Philosopher Secrets: Angels and Elixirs
by Fullmetal Angel 17
Summary: After a terrible incident forces Winry to accompany the Elric brothers on their journey, they discover there's a secret far greater than they imagined. One that could help restore their bodies, but at the cost of their friend?
1. Visit in Central

A/N: Hello, kiddies! This is fullmetal angel again. I've finally decided to write an FMA fic like I talked about. But be aware, this is my third fic. I take comments, regardless if they're complementary or criticism. But no flames. I dont think I have enough fire extinguishers to put out the bad mouthing and lazy excuses for criticism. So now that we've established general guidelines and such, take a seat, make yourselves a good snack, and enjoy my first installment of Philosopher Secrets: Angels and Elixirs.

Pairing: Ed and winry

Rating: T

Setting: manga verse. No particular time. Though, its known that the Fuhrer is a homunculus and Father is the leader of homunculus.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**Chapter 1: Visit in Central**

The streets were bustling as usual. The sound of honking horns rang all around the corners of overly packed merchandise stores and crowded apartment buildings. The sidewalks were some what more scarce than cars on the streets, mostly those that were out window-shopping or simply having a good time walking around. There were usually a couple of men at random spots of the city polishing shoes and rounding up more people to come. It was typical of the great Central city.

Ed and Al were headed towards the Colonel's office at Central HQ. The eldest Elric was more than irritated to have the Colonel send him all around the world to do his bidding and then pulled by the leash to return to their "master". Just picturing him sitting at his desk with that ever-smug look riled the man to no ends. The youngest, on the other hand, couldn't grasp the idea of why his brother loathed the man so much. The Colonel let them get away with many things and never once told a soul about their secret. Sure, the man had a way with getting on one's bad side and exerted his authority to put them in their place. But he's helped them out in situations where aid was needed. Heck, he helped Ran Fan when she needed medical attention. He even believed them when he was told that the Fuhrer was a homunculus, something that is not to be joked in kind with the risk of being considered a threat to government. All in all, Roy Mustang was a pretty good guy in Al's better judgment.

He just couldn't say the same for his brother.

Ed continued trudging the streets, seething with uncontrollable anger and eyes that spoke of possible murder. To say he was simply pissed was an understatement. Al kept a good distance between them as they walked side-by-side, afraid he'd throw another one of his tantrums. But it never ceased to amaze him how such a title of great upbringing like Fullmetal was given to someone who acted like that of an outraged child when the subject, or mocking, of his height came up. The fact that he was the same height as their mechanic friend didn't speak volumes for him. But nonetheless, the alchemist prodigy welcomed the increased height with a sense of gratitude for being taller than last time.

It didn't take them long to reach the gates of HQ. As they were walking up to the guard at the gate, Ed swiftly pulled out his pocket watch to show the guard to let them in. He was in no mood for small talk and eagerly wanted to get the summon for his appearance done and over with. The guard, sensing the murderous aura radiating from the man, opened the gate without any hesitation and let out an almost inaudible sigh when they passed through. People around them turned silent and made a path for them to walk through when they noticed the dangerous glare in Ed's eyes. None dared to greet the man in his current state, knowing fully well what he was capable of. Ed must not have took notice of the people around him because he kept on walking forward without so much as glancing to the side.

Upon their arrival to the double doors leading to his office, Ed wasted no time pushing them in with a force equal to a herd of bulls. And just as Ed predicted, Mustang was lounging at his desk with the infamous smirk plastered on his face. At the corner of his desk lay a rather large pile of documents that needed signing. This told the younger Elric that the Lieutenant wasnt around to "persuade" him to do his duties. What they did notice, however, was Winry sitting on a chair propped up against the wall near his desk. A look of surprise came over the brothers.

"Winry?" Ed couldn't begin to think why the Rockbell girl suddenly came all the way to Central to see the Colonel. All he was capable of at the moment was staring in disbelief.

"Before I begin, let me just say that youre more than welcome to take a picture of her, Fullmetal, if you wish to just gawk at her. Or should I leave you two alone for a bit?" Mustangs comment seemed to bring Ed out of his trance because the next minute he was glaring daggers at him with a blush that rivaled his coat.

Rather than wait for another fight to ensue between them, Al turned to Winry with concern in mind. "Is everything ok, Winry? Not that I'm unhappy to see you. Just that it's too dangerous to be traveling alone." Winry didn't respond to him. Instead, she kept on looking down at her lap. Al didn't take notice of it before, but her eyes looked a little red like she'd been crying for a while. There were also tear tracks that trailed down her cheeks. Something must not have been right for her to have been crying, in Mustang's office for that matter. Ed, also, picked up on Winry's gloomy mood and figured something had been out of place. At that moment, the Colonel cleared his throat to hopefully get the attention of all the occupants in the room.

"As you can see, Miss Rockbell has paid me a visit concerning her grandmother." Pinako? What about her? It took a while for the boys to wrap their minds around the concept that something possibly happened to Pinako. But when they did, Al was the first to voice his question after what seemed like hours of stilled silence.

"Wh-what's wrong with Auntie?" Even without a human body, Winry could sense the dread that came over him. She stood up turned towards both boys, desperately trying to keep her composure and hoped that her voice didn't waver with her failing determination to hold her ground. But having seen the look on Ed's eyes and heard Al's quivering voice for the much-anticipated truth, she knew doing this was easier said than done. If anything, she wanted to revert back to those times when life was much simpler. Not when she was deemed to add more burden on the boys already heavy shoulders. She wished more than anything that she didn't have to be the bearer of bad news. But she knew they, more than anyone, had the right to know. So she swallowed her fears and hoped it was enough.

"Something...happened...while you were gone." Just trying to explain what happened proved to be a great struggle as Winry tried finding the right words to say to them. She let her hair fall over her face, already anticipating the tears to fall once more. She never liked to appear weak in front of them, Ed especially. She knew it hurt him a great deal to see her suffering. That's why he tried to keep her away from their journeys. That she understood. And even though they kept her at arms length from anything pertaining to how they got injured or who were after them, she didn't want to reciprocate such awful feelings because she felt left out. She didn't have it in her to do that to them. So she decided to continue her story. "I...was walking back ho-home after helping Nelly fix her wagon when I... when I saw the front door open. There she was, on the floor, dead." By now, she was crying heavily from the memory of her dead grandmother. "T-t-they wrote 'You're Next' on the wall... i-in h-her blood. But why. Why her. Why...Why!!" At that moment, her legs gave in and she collapsed on the floor in a heap of utter defeat.

"Winry!" the two yelled simultaneously. Each rushed to her side, kneeling before her. Winry cradled her head in her hands, keeping her face low to the ground in hopes that she'd wake up and see that it was a horrible nightmare. But she was faced with the reality that her grandmother was dead and who ever it was that killed Pinako wanted her dead as well. So for now, she'd let out all her tears and sort the rest later. Ed, for his part, didn't know how to go about comforting her. To say the least, he strayed from any forms of creature comfort to go about finding the Philosopher Stone and restoring their bodies. It never occurred to him that he'd have to comfort a crying girl along the way. He couldn't even do that when Rose was devastated from knowing the truth about Cornello. He just told her to get back on her feet and not dwell on the past. So as she lay crumbled on the ground, Ed did nothing but rub his hand on her back.

She continued on like that for some time. The Colonel instructed the brothers to take her with them as a safety measure. So around 9 pm, the three friends walked out of the building. But little did they know, a pair of eyes where watching from the dark shadows of a near by alley....

* * *

So there you have it. The first chapter of a hopefully great fanfic. I leave the rest to you. Click on the green button and let me know how I did. I'll do my part and work on chappie 2. I got finals coming up, so hang tight. Adios!


	2. His Realization

A/N: Welcome, viewers! Seeing as you're reading the second chapter, it tells me that I did a decent job of writing. I know you guys have been waiting so, without further ado, here's chapter 2.

Pairing: Ed and Winry

Rating: T

* * *

Chapter 2: His Realization

It was 10:45 when they arrived at a hotel. By now, Winry's crying had subsided to sniffling. During their walk, the two would engage in small conversation with her to lighten the mood. And it seemed to help some, since she didn't lash out at any of them. Not a lot of words were exchanged between the friends. But Winry gave her share of sufficient discussion to assure them that she wasn't bothered by their attempts of cheering her up. Occasionally, she'd steal a glance between the two to see their reactions of the situation, on account that she'd been crying so much to notice. She could tell Ed was trying to hide the grim look that appeared on his face sometime ago at the mention of something happening to Pinako. It was one of his many facades he used to cover up his emotions. Al, for obvious reasons, didn't show signs of distress. But his all too cheery voice told her otherwise. It made her uncomfortable to know that she muddled their moods. She also didn't want them to feel like they were forced to protect her. The last thing she wanted was to be a burden for them. But what could she do? She didn't have the necessary means of defending herself and the worst part was that she didn't even know what she was up against. But why would the murderer, or murderers, go through all the trouble of killing her grandmother? It's not like she was an alchemist, or famous for any matter other than automail. And why would they want her dead? All those questions kept running through her mind as they came to the front desk to check-in for available rooms.

Winry was brought out of her musings when she felt an automail hand gently shaking her shoulders. She turned around to look up at Ed's face. Wait. Look up? Since when did Ed grow taller than her?

"You ok there, Winry? You were kind of spacing out for a while." Ed didn't mean it to be rude. Rather, he was genuinely concerned for his friend's emotional state. His passive face and sad eyes said it all.

"I'm alright. I was just thinking is all."

"About Granny?"

"...Yes. That and why it happened." Ed wrapped his flesh arm around her shoulders and led her to their rooms, together in silence.

* * *

When they arrived at their rooms, Ed pulled out two sets of keys and handed one to Winry.

"We figured you wanted your privacy. Me and Al will be in the room next door so don't hesitate to knock on it when you want. Ok?"

"Sure." Winry answered with a somber voice. "I might come by later to check-up on your automail."

"Sounds good."

"Ok then. Goodnight, you two."

"Night, Winry."

"Have sweet dreams, Winry. And don't worry, me and brother will be sure to find the person who did this to Auntie and bring them to justice. Just you wait." Without another word, Winry opened the door to her room and went inside. The boys stayed out in the hall for a few more seconds, each thinking to themselves about what they were going to do about the situation. They were sure they knew who did this. The problem was how they were going to tell Winry. They practically kept her out of everything pertaining to the dangers they've been facing as of late. To tell winry that the people that killed Pinako were the same people that wanted to use them as sacrifices would be devastating for her to handle. Plus, it's not like they were a hundred percent sure it was the Homunculus. But they had their suspicions it was them who did this as a way of reminding them that they weren't to be taken lightly when undermined.

Later that night, they heard faint crying and thrashing noises coming from the next room. Believing that she was being attacked, the brothers leaped out of the room and banged on Winry's door to get in. They managed to push the door open, Ed transmuting his arm into a dagger to combat who ever it was that was attacking her. They were, however, presented with a slumbering Winry, wailing her arms around and sobbing uncontrollably. Ed rushed to her side and started shaking her awake. The action, itself, wasn't doing any good. She kept on thrashing about, but with more force as if she was fighting an unknown entity in her nightmare. Al managed to keep her legs down while Ed was working on waking her, all the while having to dodge the punches she was throwing.. This continued on for a good five minutes, Winry wailing at her "attacker" to get away from her and Ed struggling to wake her from her sleep spell. It wasn't until Ed yelled her name one last time that her eyes flew open, shock and despair etched into her blue irises. It took her a minute to register that she was in her room with Ed and Al. Comprehending that it was all a dream, Winry leaped into Ed's arms and cried her heart out. Ed, holding her in a tight embrace, signaled Al to give them some privacy. Al left the room without complaint. Once he left, Ed returned his gaze to the crestfallen girl in his arms. He used his flesh hand to lift her face up from the crook of his neck. The tears that cascaded down her face were enough to break his heart and almost push him to tears. But he refused to break down, knowing Winry needed his strength most of all.

"Its ok now. Nothing is going to hurt you. If you want, you can talk to me about it. Your nightmare, I mean."

She was a little hesitant, at first, about talking to Ed about her nightmare. Ed sensed this and started to rub her back, a gesture he used to do when they were younger to coax her to tell him her worries. It seemed to be enough for her. "I-I was walking down a dark corridor. There were lighted torches going across the walls and what looked to be a door at the end. When I reached out to open it, a hand came out from behind me and yanked me into a white room. There was blood everywhere. Then I heard this man's voice. I couldn't make out much of what he was saying, other than 'Elixir' and 'carrier'. This man in a white lab coat suddenly walked in and chained me to a metal table. I was so scared I didn't know what to do. I tried fighting the man off, but he was too strong. He kept telling me to accept this and that I would be joining you and Al eventually. Another man walked in, but I couldnt see his face because the other man pushed my head down. He was wearing these long, white robs and said the array is complete. After that, I woke up. But I was so scared and I didn't know where you were. I tried calling your name, but my voice didnt work. I..." Winry once again started crying, Ed cradling her in his arms until she fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning, Ed, Winry and Al checked out of the hotel and took the next train leaving for Lior. When they were seated, Winry decided to ask Ed about why they were headed for Lior.

"The answer is simple. Some people reported a small Xing girl boarding a train headed over there. We need to track her down and question her about the type of alchemy she uses and there are ruins that have transmutation circles of an older practice there as well. If we can have that girl tell us what the strange wording on them says, we can uncover a new way of creating the Philosopher's Stone without using the lives of others. We may also find a way of ridding the earth of those other people that intend to use it for evil."

Winry looked perplexed from his last comment. "What other people are you talking about, Ed?" Ed mentally kicked himself for letting that one slip.

"Just some people that were after." he said in a bored voice, turning his gaze out towards the window to create the illusion that it wasn't important. He didn't want to venture further into that discussion, that was for sure. Especially, not with Winry.

Her face hardened at his statement. "Fine. Don't tell me. It's not like you haven't kept secrets from me before." Winry slumped in the seat furthest from Ed, obviously pissed at him.

Ed looked back at her with a look of equal irritation. "Oh come on, Winry! It's not like I enjoy doing this. But it's for your protection." He retorted with anger evident in his voice.

"Really! That's all you do is lie. When was the last time you've ever told me about your journey? Or about how you guys always come back to visit with cuts and bruises. Do you ever tell me anything anymore? I thought we were friends!"

"Of course were friends! But what good would it be if I told you and you got hurt for it?!"

"At least I'd know that you trusted me!" The two stood face to face, each huffing from all the yelling they were doing. Too angry to retort, Ed slammed the door to their compartment open and slammed it shut as he walked out, muttering that he needed some air. Winry looked down, ashamed that she argued with him over something so trivial as trust. She knew better than to accuse him of not trusting her. So with a final huff of breath, she sat back down and looked out the window. During the whole ordeal, Al could do nothing but watch as they heatedly exchanged angry words to one another. Al decided to stay with Winry and comfort her in any way he could. He took one of her hands in his and held it. Winry didn't tear her gaze from the scenery outside. But she gave his hand a tiny squeeze to let him know she acknowledged his concern for her.

It was going to be a long ride there. That's for sure.

* * *

It was very late in the night when Ed finally returned to the compartment the three shared. He noticed Winry was lying flat on the seats they were sharing while Al was sitting opposite her, reading a book. Noticing his return, Al placed the book down and stood in front of him. Ed could tell that Al was bothered by the argument earlier.

"You know, Winry does have a point."

Ed took a second to glance at Winry's sleeping figure, letting Al's words sink in. "You're right. But, I don't want to mix her in with our problems. If not knowing anything keeps her safe, than I rather she stayed ignorant to it all."

If Al could smile he would, knowing Ed's words spoke truth. "I know." He began to walk towards the door after that. "Well, I'm gonna go get some air for myself. Try not to do anything to her while I'm gone, Brother." Ed could detect the snide tone in his remark.

At that, Ed felt his face heat up tremendously. "W-what are you talking about. Of course I'm not gonna do a-anything."

"Whatever you say, Brother. Oh, whatever you say." With that, Al left the stuttering alchemist and his mechanic to themselves. He always found a great joy in teasing his brother about his affections towards Winry and it never ceased to make him wonder why Ed never acknowledged his feelings, or hers for that matter. The two were hopeless in the matters of love, to everyone that knew them.

While Al took a stroll around the train, Ed sat on his seat and tried not to let Al's comment get the best of him. The moon was out and shone brightly in the sky. He couldn't help but turn his gaze towards the sleeping mechanic. He took notice of the way the moon's glow accentuated her features and gave her golden hair an extra shine, making her look like an angel sent from heaven. And as corny as that sounded, Ed couldnt help but think it was true.

_That's all you do is lie._

It was true that he never told her anything. For as long as he could remember, the brothers were like a closed book with her. It was only after the death of their mother did they choose to leave her out of things entirely. They never filled her in on their plans to resurrect their deceased mother. They never told her about their plans to burn down their home and go on a journey to restore their bodies. But it's like he told Winry. He didn't want to risk the chance of her getting hurt or becoming a liability during a battle against the Homunculus. They were merely protecting her well being.

_At least I'd know that you trusted me!_

He did trust her. Hell, he trusted her when he needed automail. He never trusted any other mechanic with his. It didn't matter that he had to travel extra long miles to get maintenance. He'd rather travel around the world, if necessary, as long as he got the work done from her. And only her. But how come she didn't see that? Did his efforts to convey his importance for her not get through? Even though he didn't express his gratitude in words, he most certainly told her with his actions. But on the other hand, he should have gave he a 'thank you' at least. Anything to let her know that he trusted her.

Winry began to stir in her sleep. And for that moment Ed decided to stay still, unconsciously holding in his breath. When she finally settled back in the seat, he let out his breath and continued staring at her. He didn't know what came over him because he, suddenly, reached his hand over her head and began playing with the strands that splayed over the seat. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he secretly liked it when she let her hair down. It settled around her face and made her look surreal. Like a free being that didn't hear of sin and despair, moving along at her own pace with an imaginary world of peace. Her soul wasn't tormented like his, always being brought down with the burdens and mistakes of his past. She could easily move forward. He couldn't. And being associated with him would only hold her back from achieving her own goals and dreams. He never intended to impose on her life and made a vow with himself to keep his distance, for her benefit. But it was her very personality that brought him back to her. They shared too much history for him to simply push her to the side.

Click.

It was like everything suddenly fell into place. His strong desire to protect her, the undying trust he had for her, the way she mesmerized him, everything. The very though scared him, but gave him a sense of clarity. But how could the idea have escaped him for so long? Al decided to return from his little escape, confronted with the scene of Ed kneeling in front of Winry and looking as though he was surprised by something.

"Brother?"

"...I finally figured it out." Ed didn't turn to Al. Instead, he kept his gaze locked on Winry. It was as though he was sorting something out with himself and wasn't aware of Al's presence.

Al was more than perplexed by his somber tone. "What do you mean?" By the way he was looking at her, Al had some inkling to what Ed was referring to. But he didn't want to get his hopes up... just yet.

"The answer was right in front of me all along, and I never took the time to notice."

Al walked over to him and rested his hand on his shoulder for comfort. He could tell Ed was struggling with the issue he was presented with. "Ed?" When he turned to Al, he could see the emotion behind his eyes and knew what he was going to say next.

"I've been in love with Winry all this time."

* * *

There you have it. I'm sorry if some of you feel like this is going at a slow pace. I'm just setting some backbone for the story ahead. I promise it'll get better. In the meantime, I hoped you enjoyed this chappie. Remember, write a review for me. I noticed I didn't get as many as I'd hoped for. Please make this author happy. Til next next time. See ya!


	3. Unsuspecting Ambush

**A/N**: Hello, all my peeps. Can you believe we're already on chapter 3. I know I can't. And yes, Ed has FINALLY realized his feelings for Winry. But will he ever tell Winry herself? Or does he plan to aggravate his fans, who've been more than patient with his shyness and naive manner, and keep it to himself? Well, you'll just have to find out by reading this fic. I know, I'm evil like that. But Arakawa-sensei has been just as guilty for leaving us EdWin fans in the dark about it. Also, Merry Christmas!! I hope you all enjoy my gift to you (if not, I may just sit alone at a corner all week trying to build a hamster home. Or at least like Tamaki from OHSHC says). But enough of my rambling, lets get on with the show! (...Suddenly, I felt like one of those anime characters that narrate the preview for the next episode of something. Is that bad? O.O)

Pairing: Ed x Winry

Rating: T (By now, everyone should know this. But I still type this out because I felt like it? I dont know)

* * *

**Chapter 3: Unsuspecting Ambush**

The three-day train ride was as uneventful as any other. Other than the heated argument that followed the day they boarded, it was peaceful. It consisted of either having subtle chatter of their present lives or minding to themselves, each relishing in the comforts of their own thoughts. Ever since he discovered his feelings for their mechanic friend, Ed was having a hard time looking Winry in the face. Every time he did, his mind was bombarded with thoughts of the two hugging and kissing on the beach during a beautiful sunset. It was enough to throw the young man into a flurry of hysterics, muttering random chemical equations to himself. Winry, for her part, didn't question his odd behavior at times, writing it off as periods of insanity marked by the numerous fights that possibly gave him a case of head trauma. Al saw it as natural for the alchemist. Because lets face it, he could recite every known aspect of alchemy and could outdo anyone in a test of brains and wits. But the guy was as good as useless when it came to the matters of love. But, like the great and loyal brother he is, Al never told Winry about Ed's revelation. He would let him tell her on his own time, whenever that would be. Their teacher taught them patience, and patience he'd have. But the time it took Ed just to figure out he loved Winry certainly took a heck load of time. He wasn't sure how long it would take him to tell her. But, nonetheless, he'd wait and see where the newfound information would take the eldest Elric.

When they finally walked off the train, Winry allowed herself a moment to stretch her aching muscles.

"Seriously, how do you guys do it? Those seats must be made out of rock or something." She moaned when her back gave out a final loud crack. And she thought 72 hours of sitting on those seats was hell. These guys did it all the time like it was nothing.

"It's not exactly enjoyable for us either. We simply just got used to it after so long." Ed replied back to her. He and Al proceeded to walk towards the gate while Winry lagged behind from having to tie the laces on her boots. Having worked in Rush Valley, she grew accustomed to the harsh weather from the sun beating down on her everyday. But when they stepped foot on the desert floors of Lior, she was sure that the sun was simmering right under their feet. It was so hot that it was almost suffocating. Peeling the black jacket from her body, Winry let her eyes wander to all the buildings adorning the small city. She could honestly say that it wasn't as extravagantly decorated as Rush Valley. It wasn't even as bustling as she had imagined. There were a few people here and there that were walking about or repairing rooftops. When they got further into the city, she noticed a little concession stand where some people were seated, eating and chatting loudly.

"Hey, old man! How's it going these days?" The man at the stand lifted his head from his conversation to acknowledge the alchemist. When he saw who it was, he smiled and gave out a low whistle.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Edward Elric the Fullmetal Alchemist and his brother, Al. I haven't seen you guys in a while. But, who's the little lady with you?"

"She's our friend and mechanic, Winry Rockbell."

The man took her hand to give it a small kiss, angering Ed in the process. It took all the will power in his body not to pummel the man into the ground and back again. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Winry."

Winry could only blush from the gesture. "It's nice to meet you too, sir." It wasn't everyday that a man told her she was pretty. To say the least, he was a very friendly person. She only wished she got the same compliment from a certain someone...

"So what brings you three to these desert parts?"

Having recovered from the jealousy fuss in his head, Ed turned his head towards the man with a look of 'serious business' on his mind. "We're here looking for a Xing girl who was said to have come here. She carries a black and white cat thing on her shoulder and knows how to do alchemy. Have you happen to have seen her around?"

He tapped his index finger on his chin for a moment, deep in thought. "Nope. Can't say I have. What about you fellows?" He asked some of the people that were finishing up their meals.

"No."

"Me neither."

"Sorry, but I haven't."

"Say, can I get the bill for this meal?"

"Oh, ya. Sure. That'll cost-"

"Nows not the time for this!" Ed was fuming from the lack of aid. He pounded his metal hand on the counter so hard it cracked under the unnecessary force dealt to it. Both parties, the Lior men and Ed's friends, were in utter shock. Ed, however took no notice and stowed away, but stopped on his tracks when he caught sight of a familiar person. The said person gave the group a warm smile in return.

"Hello, Edward and Alphonse. How's it been?"

"It's good to see you again, Rose." Al was more than enthusiastic to see Rose's smiling face again. To be perfectly honest, he kind of liked her. But he knew that she had her sights set on his brother. All the while, he still enjoyed her presence.

"We're just here on business. But like Al says, it's good to see you once more."

From behind Ed's back she caught sight of blonde hair. "Oh! I didn't notice you there." Rose walked up to a confused, and slightly jealous, Winry and held her hands in her own while giving her the same kind smile. "And who might you be?"

From the look she was giving her, Winry could tell that the girl wasn't threatning. She gave her an equally kind smile in return and replied, "My name is Winry Rockbell."

"Well it's nice to meet you, Winry. I'm sort of a friend of theirs. It's a long story, but I'd be more than happy to tell you if you want?"

"Sure." Everyone decided to take a break and eat some lunch. Al was nagging Ed about his lack of manners while Rose was telling Winry the story about how the Elric brothers came into town and exposed Father Cornello for the fake that he was. Winry was more than intrigued to hear stories of the brothers and the many lives they inspired. After all, they never told her anything and it always helped to give her insight on what kind of lives they lived outside of the Rockbell home. Though Rose was a kind person and filled her in on what she wanted to know, that didn't stop the small nagging in her heart. The way she smiled at Ed earlier gave her the impression that Rose had a thing for him. But she didn't hate her for it. For goodness sakes, the girl was offering her home to them. Just because she was jealous, it didn't give her the right to start being mean to her. And Winry prided herself for not holding grudges against others. So, she simply repressed her feelings and allowed herself to get along with the girl.

When it started getting late, Rose asked the group if they wanted to head it to her place. But Ed refused the offer, saying he needed to check something out first. So the friends bid her farewell and left towards the ruins of what used to be the church of Leto. They promised to return before dinner, though.

* * *

Winry heard from Rose that Ed transmuted a statue of immense size that destroyed the structure. But the actual sight was mind blowing. It definitely wasn't what she had imagined. There, on the roof, rested the head of the statue and what appeared to be a spear protruding not too far from it. Several pillars were crumbled and glass from the windows were scattered all around the floor. Ed really did a number on it, in Winry's opinion. They walked around it and entered the church through a back door that looked to had been alchemized before hand. It was a dark room cluttered with books and a broken table. In the middle was an open hole to walk down. Ed alchemized a torch and led the others down a flight of stairs. When they reached the bottom, Al and Winry came across writing all over the walls. There were even various circles and pages from alchemy books nailed to it. Winry was in total awe and Al was surprised that his brother even found a room like this in the church.

Ed walked to one corner and began inspecting some of the foreign signs. "This circle looks very similar to the one indicating rejuvenation. And this one looks like the one for decomposition. But I can't say for sure. That's why I that damn bean girl and her knowledge of this stuff."

"When did you take the time to find this place, brother?"

"It was during that time when Rose escorted us to the church to meet Cornello. While the two of you were discussing something, I decided to check out the area outside. That's when I came across this place. I found it suspicious that this was the only door that was alchemized. And then I found all of this writing and I knew something had been up. But before I could delve further into it, I heard you calling for me. And I totally forgot about it after the fight."

"Why don't we turn in for the night and resume our search for the girl in the morning?"

Ed pondered it for a moment. While he was adamant about leaving, he also knew that trying to decode the writing without any kind of knowledge of it was useless. "Huff. I guess sticking around here isn't going to do us any good. Lets head back to Rose's and leave this for tomorrow. It's not like the room is going to up and leave this place anyways." So without another word, the trio headed up the stairs. When they exited the room, Ed alchemized the door again so as not to raise suspicion.

Crunch

In shock, they turned around and came face to face with an elder person and a couple of adults. From the look on their faces, they didn't seem too pleased to be in their presence.

"What do you guys want?" The situation seemed less than harmless and Ed wasn't going to take his chances on simply walking away. He stood his ground in front of Winry and Al, waiting for any type of retaliation from the other group.

The elder man spoke up first. "You do not belong here. You must leave immediately or else you may risk further angering Leto."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"It's just as I've said, boy. Leave and never return. Your presence is upsetting the balance."

"Look. I'm not looking to fight with anyone. I just want some answers and then we'll leave."

"Leto has spoken and he's most upset about something evil that has trespassed holy grounds. You have tainted the ground you walk on and we will not stand for this. Leave immediately."

Before Ed could retort, Winry grabbed onto his arm and began to whisper into his ear. "Maybe it's better if we just head back now. I don't think these people are in the mood for more arguing and it doesn't look like they're going to listen to reason either."

"Fine." he whispered back. He turned to the men afterwards. "We'll leave the church area, but not the town. We still have unfinished business. But rest assured, we don't plan on hurting anyone. Lets go you guys." They left to Rose's, disregarding the men behind them. As they were walking away, the look on the elder's face turned to that of worry.

One of the men turned to the elder with equal worry shone on his face. "Sir, do you think...?"

"Yes. It seems the time for it has begun once more."

"What should we do?"

"There is nothing we can do. Time will take it's course, regardless of who is sacrificed for it. Until then, we must protect the people of this town from those that are tainted." He looked towards the moon, muttering to himself. "Yes. It seems the vessel has returned."

* * *

It was around midnight when they returned. Ed had been peeved through the whole walk there. What the man had said made no sense to the alchemist. Winry and Al were distraught from the mans words also. They hoped that they wouldn't have to see them again anytime soon. Now if only they knew where the girl was.

Before they could knock on the front door, it was flung open and a worried Rose stood in its place. "Where have you guys been? I was worried sick for you."

"It's ok, Rose. We were just caught up in something and failed to notice the time." replied Al.

Rose released a huff of breath she didn't know she was holding in. "Well, as long as you're here all is fine. Please, do come in." Rose moved to the side to let them in. She showed them to their rooms and proceeded to fetch blankets for them to use. In the meanwhile, Winry left to change into some shorts and a t-shirt that Rose let her borrow for the night. She couldnt stop thinking about the elder's words. Sure, she was offended that the men insinuated that they were out to do no good. But she was also scared of what he might have been warning them about. When she looked at his eyes as he spoke, she could see fear etched into his irises. For whatever reason, deep in her heart, she felt like the man's words held some truth to them. Like... something bad was going to happen.

"How little you know."

Winry, upon hearing a voice, whipped her head towards the window. She saw no one in the room, but she had the feeling that someone was in there with her. She quickly dressed and rushed out of the room to join the brothers. What she failed to notice on her way out was a pair of eyes lurking in the darkness outside the window.

"Just a little bit more and then you'll know. Oh, how this is going to be fun..."

* * *

**A/N:** There you guys have it. So now it's time for you to do your part and let me know how I did? And once again, Merry Christmas! XD


	4. Lurking in Darkness

**A/N****:** Hey, everyone. I don't know about you guys, but I had a stellar Christmas and New Years. I got all the gifts I wanted and none of my family (outside of the immediate a.k.a the ones I live with) from else where came over. Especially, my bratty cousin who I wish to stuff in Santa's bag and let him to dispose of him. Too harsh? O.O Anyways, Since I got such great feedback I would like to give a shout out to those that have been keeping up with the review comments:

**obsidianlight:** Thank you so much for the kind comments. You were the first commenter and I appreciate that. It makes me glad to know that youre enjoying the story thus far. Hopefully, I'll hear from you for every chapter after this.

**iMac15: **I remember reading your first comment about how you liked the story and me being a Pinako killer. I cracked up from reading that. And now, I got the impression that I gave you a heart attack over the computer from all the EdWin goodness (in a good way). I hope you don't grow tired of it because I have more in store for this fic.

**Kurozu-Elric:** It's good to meet another fangirl like myself. Though, I tend to lose absolute control of myself when I read EdWin fanfics with all the greatness of them. I'm already getting light-headed just thinking about some. But I'm glad that I was able to perk your interest for this.

**BornOnTheBreakOfDawn:** Let me just say that I like your pen name. I dont know why, but it reminds me of a certain event from my past. Anyways, thank you for enjoying my work and I hope to hear more from you soon. And like I told you before, watch out for the hints I drop with events and the dreams.

Now that I've honored my top reviewers, I would like to reward you all with a virtual ED AND WINRY PLUSHIE! That's right, you heard correct. Now you have something to snuggle with while you wait patiently for the next chappie or for when you're reading and you have the urge to let out your inner fangirl and squeeze the living daylights out of them. This costs nothing and is given with lots of love from yours truly. Now that youve read through a good portion of my rant, lets kick off those shoes and get to the next installment!

* * *

**Chapter 4: Lurking in Darkness**

"Son of a bitch! Where the hell could she be?!"

"Ed!" yelled Winry as she slammed her wrench upside the alchemist's head. The blow left him crippled on the ground, blood seeping from the gash on his head. "You do know that there are kids walking these streets. Huff. I swear with you..." Winry walked ahead to ask a nearby couple about the whereabouts of the Xing girl, while Al tried to restore his brother's soul back to his body.

It had been four days since their arrival to Lior, and yet there was no sign of the girl. Everyday, they walked around town and questioned town folks about her. But no one had seen her or heard of her being there. With each passing day, Ed's patience wore thin. It seemed like they were never going to find her. But Ed was always known to be stubborn. So he decided to stay and investigate some more. Rose didn't mind the long stay in the least. In fact, she encouraged the trio to stay in town for another couple more days. Part of Winry felt the reason behind it was to spend more time with Ed. But, regardless, she also knew that Ed didn't see her like that. Or did he? Nowadays, she wasn't so sure she really knew who Ed was anymore. There was just too many secrets between them to tell what the other was thinking. But she already told herself that letting this bother her would only hinder Ed from his goal and, in turn, frustrate her more. So she'd let it slid for now. After all, there was plenty time to question him (with a wrench if persuasion intended).

She had just got done asking the couple, and getting no good response in return, when Ed emerged from his near coma and gave Winry a stern glare. He still sported the rather large lump on his head and blood streaks marred the side of his face. But Ed was more occupied with being pissed with the mechanic. He knew that messing with Winry meant playing with very dangerous fire. Her mood was like a roller coaster, either spiraling out of control or running at a slow pace before another run through the spirals. If Ed wished to stay alive to see grandchildren, he knew not to test her patience with him. But he didn't like to make her feel like she won. So instead of calming down like his brother instructed, he walked close to her and began yelling obscenities in her face.

"What the fuck, Winry! All I did was ask where the bean girl was. That didn't give you the right to fuckin slam that shitty wrench on my head!"

"Oh, really! Did you even know what you did? Because you are damn well doing it right now."

"So I say a few cuss words. So what? It's not like they're not going to hear it from someone else. What difference would it make to hear it from me?"

"It would make a world of difference! The thing is that these are little kids. They're not potty mouths like you!"

"Uh, guys...?"

"Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't know I was in the presence of a perfectionist!"

"Don't you turn this on me, Edward!"

"Guys..."

"I'm only saying it like it is! You think you can just stomp over who ever you like and act like you're the only one who knows better. But for your information, YOU were the one who was yelling a damn storm of cuss words when I dented your precious automail!"

"That's besides the point! At least I'm not endorsing under age cussing!"

"Will you two be quiet!" The two blondes ceased their bickering when they heard Al yelling at the top of his lungs (figuratively speaking, since he didn't have lungs). "I understand that it's frustrating not to be able to find the girl. But, could you keep this argument to yourselves. All the commotion you caused got people's attention. More so than you wanted." It wasn't until Al said that did the two notice people all around them. There were kids snickering at them and women talking amongst themselves about how they shouldn't be having a lover's quarrel in the middle of the street. Their faces burned brighter than a tomato from all the unwanted attention. So rather than continue the argument, both teens fled the scene faster than Al could say idiots.

When he finally caught up to them, he noticed that they were sitting at opposite ends of the fountain. Neither spoke a word as Al approached them, both still flustered from the previous event. Al decided to take the initiative and lead the group to another part of town to resume their investigation. He walked between them to avoid the chances of either lashing at one another. There was no harm in taking a little precaution, right? After all, both were hot heads and didn't know the meaning of surrender. The remainder of the day was tranquil. It wasn't until later in the day when the two were on speaking terms. It seemed like they only needed some time to cool off for them to forgive one another.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm beat. I say we should head back to Rose's."

"That sounds like a good idea, Winry. What do you think, brother?"

"I guess we could. I don't see anyone turning up any news after all the people said they didn't see her."

"Well then, it's decided. But before we do, I wanted to check out this one store. I saw some really neat stuff for those who own cats."

"Again with the cat stuff? I just told you not to be getting anymore strays."

"But this isn't a stray. Rose is taking care of a kitten for her neighbor while she's away. I wanted to see if they have something neat for it to play with. That's all."

"Are you sure that's all this is for? Because I don't want to leave Lior and see a cat sheltered in your armor."

"Don't worry, brother. I promise that it's only for the kitten at Rose's."

"Ok. But only for a couple of minutes. I don't want to be looking at yarn all evening."

"I promise."

* * *

The animal store was a small one that specialized in vet work and pet necessities. There was even a glass area with some dogs and cats for sale. Al took full advantage of the visit and petted every animal there. He also began looking at various toys for the kitten to play with. Ed busied himself with investigating the owner, claiming that there was no point in not asking last minute people. Winry saw a tool shop next door and went in to re-stock on supplies. The tool shop wasn't grand, but it carried all the necessary stuff she needed. She quickly purchased what she needed and left. Though, it didn't occur to her that the sun had set and the moon was glowing brightly in the sky until she left the store. She figured Al was too caught up in the stuff to be taking so long. At least, it gave her some time to walk around a little.

"You're quite the busy girl, aren't you?"

The tools from the bag clattered all over the ground. She was stunned, hearing the same voice from before. A chill ran up her spine from the tone the faceless voice carried.

"I assume you haven't been dreaming those dreams anymore?"

Winry swiftly turned toward the dark alley, but saw no one. She knew it was dangerous, but she had to know who it was. So she slowly crept towards the alley, a wrench at hand. Being night, there wasn't any light to illuminate the path ahead. She could barely make out a figure leaning on one side of the wall. From the looks of it, the person had on some dark clothing and wild hair that poked out everywhere. "Who are you? And why are you following me?" Despite her best efforts to appear fearless, her voice gave out a bit of a quiver. She was very frightened and there was no one out to protect her in case something went wrong.

"I'm here to check your progress." The voice seemed amused with the look on her face, the smirk being the only thing clearly visible under the moonlight.

Winry was confused and frightened, but decided to try and pry some answers from the person. "What do you mean by that?" This time, she made sure her voice sounded fierce, so as not to show the fear she felt inside.

The person didn't appear happy with her tone. "It's exactly what it means. But I guess it doesn't matter since you're only a puppet in the grand scheme."

"Gasp!" Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain attack her head. Winry couldn't help kneeling on the ground and holding her head in total pain. A flurry of images ran through her mind. She saw images of a lab and the face of a man who looked like Hohenheim. There was also a woman in a long dark dress talking to her, but no noise issued from her. During all that time, the word puppet was ringing in her ears. All the different voices that said it sounded menacing, scaring her even more. But she had no idea why she was reacting the way she was. She vaguely felt the person's hand petting her head and talking to her, but the pain was too unbearable to distinguish the words. It was as if the world around her was fading away, leaving the immense pain in its place.

The person, looking on with an evil smirk, grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked Winry towards his face. "Now you listen to me, girl. I don't care if you tell your little boyfriend or not. What I do care for is when you think you can talk to me in that tone of yours. Regardless of the situation, I'll make absolute sure you never defy me like tonight." All of a sudden, a bell went out. The person knew the boys were done and had just left the store. He neared her ear to whisper one last threat before his departure. "I'll be watching you. So don't get too comfortable." He released his grip on her and swiftly fled into the darkness of the alley.

The pain seemed to subside some. But it didn't help relieve her in the least. She could still feel the cold hand that was on her head moments ago and the searing pain that invaded her. It took all the willpower in her not to scream out. And despite having only just met the person, she had a feeling that he fed off others pain. So with that in mind, she held it in so as not to give him the satisfaction of hearing her in agony. But all that transpired really wiped all the energy out of her. As she was falling into the darkness of sleep, she could hear Ed and Al screaming her name. That was the last she remembered before darkness claimed her for the night.

* * *

The blond mechanic began to stir. But she wasn't back at Rose's. Instead, she was lying on the ground of a pitch-dark place and wearing a white nightgown. It was only when her senses began working did she feel the chill of the place. She got up and began walking around the black world. She had no idea why she was here and who put her here. She remembered hearing Ed and Al running in her direction. So why was she here? Winry was walking around aimlessly, when she caught a bright object from the corner of her eye. She turned around slowly and came face-to-face with none other than...herself? It was true. Winry was standing in front of a five year-old version of herself. She was wearing the same outfit, but had a look of sadness on her face.

_"Have you uncovered it?"_ By the confused look on Winry's face, the girl saw that she didn't have a clue of what she was talking about. "_I guess you haven't."_

Winry had no idea what was going on and why the younger her was here. She wasn't so sure if she should even trust the girl in front of her either. For all she knew, this could be a trap set by the mysterious person to lure her into his grasp. But in the void of emptiness, there was no hope of escape. As though sensing the teens thoughts, the girl walked closer to Winry and grasped her hand in a comforting manner.

_"It's ok. I understand that you're confused. And that's only normal. But trust me when I say this: I'm not going to hurt you."_ Her words seemed sincere. After all, the smaller girl had more than enough time to attack her if she wanted. But the fact that she didn't said that the girl had no intention of enacting harm on her. Winry, feeling more confidence in the girl, gripped her hand and allowed the younger her to lead her through the dark void. When they walked a certain amount of distance, the girl lifted her free hand straight ahead, a white glow emitting from her hand. Their surroundings brightened, no longer being the dark world they were in moments ago. But right in front of them stood a large and elaborately decorated gate.

For whatever reason, its presence shook the smaller girl. She clenched Winry's hand tightly and there were small trickles of sweat forming on her forehead. Winry had to admit that she, also, felt a chill from being in front of the mysterious gate. But what kind of danger did such a thing impose that it involuntarily frightened both girls?

The girl didn't turn away. Instead, she kept her gaze on the gate. From the way her skin paled, Winry figured the situation had to of been bad. "_W-we have to get you out of here."_ As she said this, her face contorted in a way as though the situation finally dawned on her. She proceeded to drag Winry away from it, all the while maintaining a tight grip on her hands.

_"But what-"_

_"Now!"_ Looking at her in that moment, Winry couldn't believe that such a feeling could be displayed on her face. She wondered if that was how she looked when she came face-to-face with the man that murdered her parents. But as the situation seemed dire, Winry wasn't going to further pursue questioning the girl for answers. Rather, she couldn't wait to be away from the ominous thing that struck fear to her very core. But their efforts proved futile as the doors to the gate swung open and a black arm thing shot out and grabbed one of the girl's legs. Winry tried to pull the girl from its grip and hit it with her bare hands, but nothing seemed to make it budge. Several other arms went for her arms and abdomen. At this point, Winry didn't know if she could release the captured child. But regardless, she was using every once of strength in her to hopefully pull her away.

Sometime during the struggle, Winry felt a pair of small hands rest on her own. The small Winry looked into her eyes and a smile graced her features. "_There is no hope for me. But you can still be saved. So please...don't let them fool you."_

Winry could only look on with a face of disbelief. The child's words caused her to grip on to her even tighter. "_What are you talking about? Are you honestly saying that your life holds no value!?"_ The tears poured from her eyes like a river. The pain of abandoning someone, especially her, was like what the Amestris government did to her parents in the heat of the battle. She didn't have it in her to just turn the other cheek and leave the girl to fend for herself. "_I don't know if this is real or a figment of my imagination. But I'm not about to up and leave when I see someone in danger!"_

_"...Heh. I guess we're both stubborn like that. But I'm afraid to say that it's not your choice."_ A loud bang resonated around the area. For whatever reason, Winry felt like something was right behind her. When she turned around, she was confronted with another gate. The large doors swung open and the same dark arms lashed out to drag Winry in. She struggled as much as possible, while still holding the girls hands.

_"No! Stop this! Winry!!"_ The smaller Winry watched as the arms pulled the teen into the dark abyss and the doors closing behind them, Winry screaming for the arms to let her go. But the child knew this was for the best. The arms holding her down released her and returned to their place inside the gate. The child was left to reflect on the possible dangers that the teen was bound to experience. Little did she know, the tortures that lied ahead were more terrible than she had imagined...

**A/N:** That's the end of another chapter. But I'm happy to see that I have many followers who've liked this. I'm currently running a poll for this. Check it out and pick if Winry should tell the brothers about what happened on the street or not. Also, leave me a comment and tell me how I did for this chappie. I leave the rest to you. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to go take a nap. I'm so exhausted from work its not a joke. _


	5. So It Begins

**A/N:** Hello, all my chinchilla people! (I couldn't help myself. The word chinchilla just sounds awesome). On the last chapter, I held a poll to determine the events for this chappie. And because I'm sure that you guys are eager to see which choice won, I'm going to keep this rant short and sweet. So I have to ask: What did you think of all that weirdness from last chapter? I'm sure none of you were expecting that to happen. And I assure you, now, it's going to get even more weirder. But that's ok, cuz everything will come into place later in the series. So now I'll let you guys jump right into the story and quench your desire to know the winning pick.

Oh, and I'm going to finally use thinking dialogue. I know what you're thinking: "This girl decides to use inner dialogue NOW?" But I have a good excuse for it. I was just afraid of making anyone seem OC. But for whatever reason, I feel like I can pull this off without doing that. And for those who haven't read enough or any fics, mental thoughts are in italics and regular dialogue are in…regular font. So now that you've got the jist of what's going on, I'm going to finally let you go and read. Enjoy. 3

"regular dialogue"

"_dream talk"_

'_mental thought'_

_

* * *

  
_

**Chapter 5: So It Begins**

As soon as she was pulled into the gate, a barrage of images zipped through Winry's mind. It was like a whole library was being stuffed into her head and a blaze of fire was coursing through her body. The dark arm-things kept their strong hold on her as they traveled farther down the void. She didn't think there was even an end to the dark, spacious world she attributed as hell. Flurries of memories and various other images whizzed past her, coiling all around and shooting towards the far reaches of space. Clenching her hands into a tight fist, Winy, once again, attempted to fight the arms off. But in retaliation, they squeezed the armed appendages harder. They even drew blood from several places on her body. And no matter what Winry did, the strange creatures met with fiercer force. It also didn't help that she felt the strength in her draining away by the minute.

_'I don't know if I can take anymore of this. I wish I were back in the hotel room, listening to Ed's tantrums and Al's attempts to reason with him. And that I never met that strange person. And…that Granny was alive. I wanna go back to the simpler times when the three of us carried on without a care in the world too. Not this!'_

Somewhere in the distance, she heard a familiar voice crying out in pain. She turned her head a little to see where the voice was coming from. To her right, she saw a golden figure, presumed to be a young boy, calling out for someone. She had to squint her eyes some to make out the golden hair and equally colored eyed boy reach out his hand in desperation. After getting a good glance, she soon discovered the identity of the boy to be a younger Ed. She also noticed that he was missing his left leg. Coming to a horrible conclusion, she figured this illusion was Ed's memory of what happened on the night he and his brother performed human transmutation.

"_Al. Al. Alphonse! …Damn, this wasn't supposed to happen. Where did we go wrong…?"_ The younger Ed held on to his amputated leg with one hand and used the other to hold him upright, bowing his head in shame all the while. Winry felt her heart break into a million pieces just watching the boy in utter sadness and defeat. She tried reaching out for him, as futile as it was, to give him what little comfort she could. It was the least she could do since she couldn't provide it to him when it happened. But as soon as her hand got a little closer to him, the boy snapped his head up and stared at her with a look of venom.

"_It's all your fault, isn't it? You did this to us!"_

"_Wha-?"_

"_I hate you! You should never have come into our lives!"_

"_But Ed! What are y-?"_

"_GET OUT!" _As soon as those words left his mouth, a huge gust of wind came through and blew her further into the darkness. She screamed with all her might, in hopes that she could wake up from this terrible dream.

* * *

"Winry! Winry!"

"…(gasp)!" After snapping her eyes open, the first thing she noticed was a blinding light. But it didn't take long to adjust and see that Ed was screaming at her to calm down, holding her arms like he did last time. She was so shaken that it was becoming difficult to get her breathing under control. Her vision was a little hazy, probably due to all the shock she endured in her sleep. But overall, she was glad to see Ed's face again. And not the one that cruelly yelled at her, having lost everything on that one fateful night.

"…E-Ed…?" Her voice sounded raspy from all the yelling she had been doing. She also couldn't stop the flow of tears that cascaded like a raging river down her cheeks. But it felt good to know he was here with her. But to her shock, Ed leaned downward and planted a kiss on her forehead. _'Whaaa?'_

He then pulled her close and hugged her like he hadn't seen her for years. "It's going to be ok, Winry. I promise I'll never leave you out of my sight again." As he was saying this, his hands shook and his voice wavered some. She really hated it when he blamed himself for everything. Bringing her arms along his back, she proceeded in stroking comforting circles and allowing him to enjoy the creature comforts of embracing someone. He was never really good with his emotions so she took it upon herself to teach him, even if the situation demanded that she went through her share of pain to rejoice with him in.

They stayed like that for some time, each taking comfort in knowing that they were with one another. Ed didn't think that being in someone's arms felt so good. He had avoided all forms of physical contact when he decided to embark on this quest to restore everything the brothers lost. He especially tried to withdraw himself from Winry, on account that she very dear to him. But at the time, he wasn't aware of his feelings for her. He knew they shared a deep bond, but never really thought of the prospect of falling in love with her along the way.

'_How could I've let her out of my sight like that? I should of known better than to leave her alone during the night. But it was a good thing that we found her before anything else could of happened.'_ Ed was more than worried when he found her lying on the ground. The second her took her in his arms, he made a made dash towards Rose's place to tend to any possible injuries she received. Luckily, Rose couldn't find anything on her body. Rose figured that she may have been exhausted and just passed out in the middle of the street. But Ed thought otherwise. He knew there was more to it than Winry simply feeling exhausted and fainting. Of course, that didn't stop the torrent of horrible images of what could have been to run through his head. He clutched her tighter in his grip, like as though he was trying to convince himself that Winry was safe in his arms and nothing had happened. But something did happen. And Ed was going to get to the bottom of it.

Ed pulled away from Winry to look her in the face. He tried to retain his composure as he saw the girl tearing up in front of him, but that was easier said than done. But he managed to get his voice through the tightening of his lungs. "There's something I need to ask you and I want you to answer honestly."

"…(sniff)…What is it?" Winry barely choked out as she looked him in the eye, trying to get a hold on her emotions. _'I hope he's doesn't ask about what happened in the alley. I don't want to give him anymore to worry about than what he's already dealing with. It wouldn't be fair to him.'_

Ed could tell that Winry felt a little uncomfortable and probably already knew what he was going to ask. But he cared more about her safety than her hesitation of the issue. "Winry…what happened on that night three days ago?"

'…_Wait. What?' _She couldn't believe her ears. She looked at him like he'd just grew three heads. "What?! I've been out for three days?!" It didn't even occur to her that she'd been sleeping for that long. And it most certainly didn't feel like three days. Winry was shaking her head vigorously, wondering why she was out for so long.

Ed, in a state of worry, grasped her hand to get her to calm down, not knowing that it only fueled her absurd behavior at the moment. At first, she ceased all movement and looked at their entwined hands._ 'He…'_ And for a moment everything seemed so surreal. She blinked once, twice, three times without so much as any movement. And without notice, her head suddenly became light and her mind wandered off to a distant dreamland when the situation finally set in. _'First he kisses me, holds me and now he's holding my hand! Am I dreaming? If I'm not, please don't let this affectionate Ed disappear so soon!'_ Winry was practically squealing in her head, all the while Ed was worrying if something was wrong with her. Despite the blush she knew was painted on her face, she couldn't help but relish in the affection Ed was showering her with.

'_What the hell is going on with her? One minute she's bawling her eyes out, and the next she's stiff as a board with that stupid grin on her face. It's like her soul left her body or something. And does she have a fever? I only asked her if anything happened that night.'_ Ed tried calling out to her a few times, but his efforts fell short since she didn't respond to anything. Heck, he even went as far as lightly running a nearby screwdriver across his automail arm. Still nothing. _'Are you kidding me?! She didn't even so much as flinch.'_ He then proceeded to shake her, but even that didn't do anything. Wondering is the coloration of her face had truly been the start of a fever, he pushed her bangs up and placed his forehead to hers. That simple contact brought Winry out of her thoughts as she noticed his face was a little too close to her own.

A rush of panic and shock set in at that moment. And the way her eyes bulged out would have put a plate to shame. Every nerve in her body was shaking from the close contact, her mouth unable to form a coherent sentence. All she could do was sit there stuttering. "Ah…ah…Aaaaaah!" In record speed she pushed the young teen off the bed, resulting in a series of obscenities as his head collided with a chair. She clutched the comforter closer to her body, partially covering the blush that turned a darker shade of red.

When the spots in his vision finally cleared up, Ed rose from the floor and was soothing out the pain on his head. The look he shot her no longer spoke of concern, but agitation. "The hell, Winry?! I was only checking to see if you had a fever or not!"

From her place on the bed, Winry was fuming with anger. She couldn't believe how quick he changed his mood with her. She narrowed her eyes at him, clearly not happy with his tone of voice. "And what about you?! You were the one who was all up in my face!"

"Because I was checking your temperature!"

"And that gives you a reason to get all close to me?!"

"I was worried about you, damn it!" When he realized what he said, Ed's face visibly paled and he looked down in shock. Winry looked like a fish out of water with her mouth agape. An awkward tension filled the air and both teens were too shocked to say anything. Ed, on his part, couldn't believe he said such a thing to Winry. All he wanted to do now was escape from the room. And that's exactly what he did. Before Winry could protest, Ed made a mad dash towards the door and slammed it shut on his way out.

The room became deathly silent after that. The only sounds she heard were the ticking of the clock on the wall…and her heart shattering.

Grabbing one of the pillows from the edge of the bed, she repeatedly began hitting her face with it. "Why, why, why? How could I've been so stupid as to squabble with him, AGAIN? I mean, It's not like he did anything wrong…" When she felt a little somber, she lifted the pillow from her face to look at the door with remorse. Her eyes navigated to the fallen chair from earlier. _'That's the chair he probably used when he was looking after me.'_ Sullen eyes stared at the chair, as she pondered how many sleepless nights the eldest Elric went through in worry over her. She didn't mean what she said. It was sort of a defense mechanism that she established to push aside the awkward feelings Ed brought out in her. _'Though, that dumb idiot should of known the implications of hugging someone like that. And why did he have to have his sweet moments now? Or anytime for that matter? All that his kindness is really doing is making me misunderstand his feelings towards me.'_

Giving the chair one last hard stare, she shoved the pillow into her face and gave out a long and exasperated scream.

* * *

It'd been about five hours since the fight that ensued, and everyone in the household was asleep. All except for Winry. She did everything she possibly could to fall asleep: reciting the multiplication table, looking at a few of the automail blueprints she brought along, doing jumping jacks in the bathroom (so as not to disturb anyone), counting sheep, counting automail parts. But nothing. She blamed a good portion of her restlessness to the guilt she felt from earlier. And the thunderstorm outside didn't help any. Before, when the three friends were in their youth, she'd always run into Ed's bed and have him comfort her. But now they were older, and many things changed between the two. Other than earlier, Ed refrained from all forms of human contact. And with him being mad at her, the chances of finding refuge in his room was more than impossible.

'_Maybe I should go and apologize to him. It'll probably make me feel a little better and help me to finally get some sleep!'_ Pushing aside the comforter and slipping on her slippers, Winry began her short trek to the door. But as soon as she had her hand on the knob, an onslaught of thunder rang throughout the house. "Eeeek!" And with lightning speed, she opened the door and practically stumbled into the hallway. More thunder shocks boomed in the night sky and the mechanic was too scared to get up from the floor, clutching her head as she let out a few whimpers of distress. She felt goose bumps tingle her arms and exposed legs. And despite the drop in temperature, she couldn't find the strength, or courage, to go back into her room to change into something more warmer. Sitting in the dark hall, with the rain and thunder being the only source of noise, she felt alone. She longed for his touch, the warmth his arms provided and his voice assuring her that everything was alright. She needed him.

"Winry?" Lifting her head from her knees, she caught sight of those familiar golden orbs staring down at her. She noted the change on his face when her saw the tears running down her cheeks, as his face took on a more worried expression.

She tried wiping the salty liquid with the back of her hands, at the same time using it as a shield from his sympathetic gaze. "H-hey, Ed. What are you doing up? Did the t-thunder frighten y-you too?" She knew her voice was cracking on her. The emotion that was building up since the argument was starting to get to her. She also knew that her extra sweet tone wasn't fooling anyone, including him. It never fooled him.

She felt his warm hand encasing her own, pulling it away to reveal distraught eyes that were begging, no pleading, for his comfort. And in one swift movement, he yanked her up and pulled her hard against his chest. He hugged her close, almost entrapping her body to his own. And to say she was shocked was an understatement. She wanted to jump around scream high and low, to everyone, that she was in love with Edward Elric. She sank further into his embrace and simply listened to his heartbeat. And for a split second, the thumping drowned out the thunder outside and the conflicting emotions she was dealing with. All her mind could recognize in that moment was the warm of his body and the erratic thumping that gave this knight in shinning automail life to carry out his heroic duties to serve and protect the country people of Amestris. But in this moment, in this embrace, he was just Edward her friend…her personal hero…her one true love. He wasn't a 'dog of the military' looking high and low for the Philosopher's Stone, or the acclaimed 'human weapon' of the state or even the witty teenager with a smart mouth and a height complex. The one hugging her close was the Ed she hadn't seen in years. Her best friend from long ago.

They stayed like that for some time, relishing in the warm and comfort each provided. Her crying reduced to small sniffles here and there. But eventually, his legs cramped up from standing for too long and he motioned her to sit on the couch. Even as they walked over to the mahogany décor, Winry didn't so much as budge in their embrace. She kept her gaze on his, her eyes painted a fresh coat of crimson. He pulled away some to get a better look at her face. It looked like she calmed down some, so he mustered the courage to ask what had happened. Though, he figured he knew what had been bothering.

"Why were you crying in the hall?" At his question, she shyly turned her head away and gripped his hand with some firmness. _"This must not be easy for her. And usually she doesn't have a problem with expressing how she feels."_ With his other free hand, he turned her head and was shocked to see a horrified look etched on her normally happy features. She truly looked scared. "Hey. What's the matter? Answer me!" He didn't mean to sound forceful in his last sentence. But the way her face contorted like that, it made him frightened to the very core of his soul. "Winry!" She stayed like that, staring aimlessly into space as though thinking deeply about something. He shook her some more until, after a sudden shake of her nerves, she turned her attention back on Ed.

But the horrified look was still on her face. "H-he's out there right now…" she let out in a whisper.

Now Ed was really concerned at this point. "What?" He followed her gaze towards the window and looked to see nothing but the rain. He turned back towards her, not quite grasping the situation. "What are you talking about, Winry?"

The river of tears from earlier made another appearance as she lunged at his chest, crying out hoarsely. "P-please! I don't w-wanna to be here anymore. Let's leave this house." She clutched onto his shirt, almost to the point of ripping at the seams.

He swiftly pulled her off of his chest, more than determined to get to the bottom of this. It was very unlike Winry to behave hysterically; even after all she's been through. "Winry!" he said in utter desperation. "You have to tell me what's wrong! Who the hell are you talking about?!"

The words that left her mouth then had him fearing for the worst.

* * *

Al was so immersed in his book that he failed to hear the frantic yelling throughout the house until he heard the door to their room burst open and Ed practically flew in gathering all of their belongings in a haste. During all of that time, Winry stood by the doorway, drenched in tears, looking onward in equal fear as Ed.

"Brother? What's goin-"

"Al, we have to get out of here NOW!" He continued to dump clothing into his suitcase and made a dash for Winry's room, pulling her along with him in the process. Al followed suit, confused and worried over what made Ed so frantic. He saw him open her drawers and dump her clothing in her suitcase in the same fashion. "Brother! Tell me what's wrong!"

Rose walked in, sleep still evident on her face. "Ed? Is something the matter?" She clearly had no idea what was going on.

After he finished clasping the lock on both suitcases, he turned to Rose and Al and motioned for them to get ready to leave. "Rose get some clothes and on meet me in the living room right away. I don't have time to explain. Just get ready to go."

"Uh, ok. I'll get right on to it. I should be no more than three minutes." Sensing the urgency in Ed's voice, Rose wasted no time in getting to her room to get changed.

Al laid a hand on Ed's shoulder, in hopes that it would get him to speak. "Brother?" His voice quivered, fearing the worst. He had to practically force the words out of his mouth.

Ed looked up at him, a look that told Al, without Ed having to say anything, what had happened. "Al…they're here."

* * *

The stranger looked on from a rooftop as the group made their way to the train station. A woman was standing a little ways from the man, amusement twinkling in her eyes.

"It seems to me that they found out about our visit here. You had to go and stand at the window didn't you?"

The man simply gave a wave of his hand, feigning innocence, and chuckled at her irritation. "And what's the matter with looking? I was simply reminding her of the situation. Nothing more."

Her glare at him went unnoticed. She saw them enter the train and take off. She started to make her way towards the exit door, but not before smacking the man's shoulder to alert him of their departure. "Come on, Envy. Father would be most displeased to know you foiled the plan again."

"Hah! That's what you say, Lust. But the game is just getting started. Soon enough, we'll have that pesky girl wishing for death. It's only a matter of time." And as the two made their way out of Lior, a heavier rain shower pelted the city and drowned out the maniacal laughing that would continue to haunt the distraught girl for a long time to come.

* * *

That's chapter 5 for you! I hope you liked how it came out. I was feeling very guilty that I hadn't updated for a while. I know how accustomed you guys were to my quick updating. But I made this chappie long to amend for the long wait. So now it's time for you guys to write a review and let me know how I did. And sorry for making Winry so emotional in these latest chapters. But it's understandable, considering all she went through. Look: Her grandmother is killed in cold blood and now she has the homunculus after her. Who's to say she should be well composed after all of this? Well, I'm off to do my homework and check for manga updates. Til then, see ya! XD


	6. Occurrences

**A/N:** So I hope everyone liked chappie 5 cuz now things are going to get into gear. And how many of you guessed Winry's 'mysterious stalker' was Envy? Come on, show of hands. Anyways, things are going to get more stranger as the story progresses. But that's my intention for the story. So let's put on those EdWin hats and get this show on the road! Wait. I mean internet! And if any of you were looking forward to a shorter rant from yours truly, today's your lucky day. So enjoy it while it lasts. ^_^

"regular dialogue"

"_dream talk"_

'_mental thought'_

_

* * *

_

**Chapter 6: Occurrences**

They were riding on a train to who knows where. Or at least, in Winry's mind. Ever since they boarded yesterday, Ed hadn't said a word of where they were off to. But she had her suspicions that he already told Al, considering she caught them talking to each other in hushed whispers when she was asleep and immediately changed the subject upon notice of her waking. She wasn't dumb; the way Ed acted that night, it was as though he knew who the person was. But he never did elaborate on that. Instead, he rushed them out the door of Rose's house, suitcases in tow, towards the train station. But she was too frightened to ask at the time. But now that things have settled down and all were safely on a train (again to who knows where), the boy didn't so much as peep a word to the mechanic about it or their plans of travel.

She made the decision to tell him about her stalker. At first, she didn't want to divulge such information with him (for obvious reasons). But when she caught sight of him through the falling rain, cloaked in the dark of the night with an almost distinguishable smirk to tease her emotions, her mind went into a panic and, before she knew it, her mouth spoke of the incidents. She could still remember the look on his face when she told him; ember eyes wide and ablaze with anger and... fear, was it? With his mouth in a tight, grim line. And if she wasn't mistaken, she believed his face paled some. But everything was moving too fast in those moments between the confession and their departure. Her mind was so distraught, that she barely registered Ed pulling her by the arm, in an almost forceful manner of urgency, and packing all their suitcases. Even in the safety of the train, Winry could still feel the chilly eyes on her, numbing her insides and creating a gut-wrenching effect. But she didn't want to think about the incident or anything related to it.

So for now, she decided to take in the sights from the window and let everything from that night wash away from her mind. But the one thing that kept bugging her (other than the chilling possibilities of being caught by her stalker and the trouble that would come to the others) was Ed's show of affection. It was unexpected to say the least. Ever since their travels, Ed was always on the offence about showing affection or letting others see what he was really feeling. But when he held her, kissed her (on the forehead), and downright comforted her in an almost un-Ed like fashion, it got her thinking if there was more to their relationship than that of a customer and mechanic. She chanced a glance towards his way, lucky that he was asleep at the time. Unconsciously, her hand went to her forehead and rubbed the spot where his lips met. The tiniest of blushes tinted her cheeks, a rosy color clashing with the white texture. _'Should I ask him about it? I mean, he __was__ the one being forward yesterday. So I do have a right to question his odd behavior.'_ She kept feeling at the spot, willing the tingly sensation to return and create volts of the same delicious electricity to run through her veins and liven her skin.

"You alright there, Winry?" Her moment of reverence was distorted when the voice of the younger Elric penetrated the surreal dream world her mind conjured up and she blushed like mad, noticing the other occupants of their group looking at her staring at Ed.

Hands flew to the back of her head in an awkward pose, eyes clenched tightly. Equally awkward giggles emanated from her widely open mouth. "O-of course, Al! I'm j-just dandy! Yup! Hahaha! I'm just gonna head over to the washroom real quick, ok?" Ducking her head, in hopes that they didn't see the rather deep shade marring her face, she rose from her seat and exited the compartment before any protests could be made. While walking to the restroom, the girl couldn't help but berate herself for getting caught like that. _'Crap, crap, crap, crap! Of all the things I could of done, I had to stare at Ed. And then to be caught doing that by his brother? What an idiot I am! Ugh!'_ Midway there, she furiously scratched at her head and caught the attention of all the travelers nearby. Some even whispered stuff like "…off her rocker" and "probably on some kind of drug". But Winry was too busy berating herself to notice the remarks. She stomped the rest of the way to the restroom and slammed the door when she got in.

With a big huff, she let herself slide along the wall with her legs spread out in front of her. _'Damn it, Ed. Why do you have to occupy my every thought when you, yourself, can act normal when I'm around? Do you even know what it is you're doing to me?'_ Bringing her left hand towards her face, she lightly smacked it on her eyes and tried evening out her breathing so as not to look suspicious to the others when she returned. "You gotta get it together, Winry." she said to herself in a low voice. "You're letting your feelings get the best of you. So you gotta pull it together and make up a believable excuse to them before they tell Ed about it."

After spending some time thinking up a reasonable excuse (and clearing her head of Ed, for that matter), she left the bathroom and proceeded to walk back to their compartment.

But on her way, she saw a red ball roll passed her towards a narrow, dark hallway. And for some strange reason, the mere sight of it caught her attention. And as though on its own accord, her body willed its way to where the ball rolled to.

* * *

Al knew better than to believe that Winry was casually glancing at his brother without a care. But he also knew not to brush her the wrong way, especially when it came to her infatuation towards the eldest Elric. So when the blonde got up to retreat from their questioning looks, he didn't press the matter any further with her. He knew already. So why bother ask them about it if they were going to keep up with the denial. _'Besides, it's so frustrating as it is that they refuse to see what's in front of them. Blind as bats, I swear.'_

"Is Winry going to be ok? She sure left pretty quick." Rose was genuinely concerned for the girl, not entirely sure of what was had happened minutes ago. She would occasionally take glances at the door to see if the mechanic would stumble through.

"Don't worry about it. The love bug has a way of doing that to you." The suit of armor leaned back into his seat, mentally smirking to himself. It never did cease to amaze him the many run arounds they did with one another when it came to their feelings.

"Love bug?" the girl inquired with growing interest.

"Oh. Well…" This particular conversation never exactly came up with the Lior girl. And the fact that it meant telling her that her love interest was interested in another would surely crush her. And it's not like he intentionally meant to hide it from her. There just wasn't any reason for the subject to come up. "You see…" He was having a hard time getting his voice through while being under her scrutinizing gaze. And if he had his body right now, he'd for sure be sweating from his palms and forehead. Rose continued looking at him, eyes pleading for him to answer, and it made it even more harder for him to tell her. "You see…my brother…and Winry…they're kind of…in love with each other. Heh."

She looked crestfallen. With downcast eyes and clenched fists. "Oh." That lone syllable said volumes of the girl's ending infatuation for the man she called 'a savior' in the darkest of her time. She brushed a few pink locks from her face and plastered on the fakest of grins he's seen on her face. "Well, isn't that wonderful? I'm happy for them. Really."

"Rose…"

"What are you getting all worried about for? It's something that can't be helped. Besides, I'm just glad you were honest with me instead of letting me make a fool of myself by continuing on with this silly crush." The smile on her face held a slither of happiness. _'At least that much"_ Al thought, an invisible smile creeping up on his steel face.

There was silence after that, both occupants fidgeting with their fingers. Al looked out the window to stare at the sun disappearing into the pool of oranges and pinks. It was a breath-taking sight. Out of the corner of his eye, he couldn't help but admire the way the sun's setting rays highlighted the pinks in Rose's hair and spread a sheen of glowing beauty on her tanned skin. Said woman was unaware of the teen's musings, occupying herself with the pastors along the way. As hopeless as the situation was, he couldn't help but hold some hope for her companionship (granted he ever got his body back). Since their first meeting, the armored teen couldn't get his mind off of her. Every time they came across a patch of lilacs, he'd be reminded of her eyes. Amethyst. Truly a beauty all on its own. But for someone in a tin can, there was no hope of swaying the girl with just his innocent charm alone.

Ed snored soundly beside him, shaking him out of his musings. Al was surprised that the boy could sleep through all of that. He was kind of half expecting him to hear the younger sibling's last comment pertaining to his crush and go off on a rampage about how he didn't feel anything like that for the mechanic. But he was only met with more snoring and the occasional grunt.

"So where are we headed off to?" the Lior girl asked.

Al turned his metallic head towards her, leaning his massive arms on his legs and propping his head on his hands. "I'm not supposed to tell anyone, especially Winry. But brother plans on hiding out in Dublith and researching this whole mess from there. And of course, we couldn't possibly leave you behind after the enemy found us out at your home. That's why we had you tag along with us. For your safety." he ended on a softer note.

Her mouth, once more, inched upward into a smile that nearly took his none existing breath away. "Thank you, Al. It really does mean a lot that you cared deeply for my safety. That's why I'm so glad to have a friend like you."

The word 'friend' caused a pang of hurt in him. And here he wasn't suppose to feel anything, being in this armor. But he sure felt that one. And he thought grimly, _'Is that how she's always thought of me? Just a friend? ….Well, I guess I can't blame her for that. After all, I don't have a body and I never did make clear of my growing feelings for her.'_ The teen exhaled, his gaze directed at his clasped hands.

Rose couldn't help but notice the change in attitude after she spoke. "Is everything alright, Al?"

"oh, yeah. It's nothing. I guess I just thought too deeply about something." he said in a solemn voice.

"Care to elaborate?" A silence fell upon them for a short time. Al didn't know how to compose his thoughts, without saying anything too revealing or misleading. Rose, on the other hand, was concerned for his sudden gloominess.

"Well…I…what I mean is…Rose-" The train ran over a bump on the tracks, shaking them out of their awkward conversation. it was almost as though both occupants temporarily forgot what they'd been talking about. Al turned his gaze to the closed door in thought before voicing them to Rose. "I'm surprised Winry hasn't returned yet."

Tapping a finger to her chin in thought, Rose voiced her own concern for the mechanic. "Now that you mention it, she sure has taken a long time to get back. Maybe we should go check on her."

"Sounds good to me. Lets go." Both occupants emerged from their seats and noiselessly exited the compartment so as not to disturb the alchemist's sleep.

They went down one side of the train, in search of any sign for the girl. But to no avail, they didn't spoke the blonde. Walked in the opposite direction when they came across the dark hall and a closed door, allowing entryway to the other side. Rose walked close to the boy while Al cautiously opened the sliding door. They were met with more darkness. Slowly, they descended into the hall.

"Winry? Are you in here?" Al called out, but received no response.

"Winry! If you're here, let us know. We're really worried about you." All they were met with was the ever-present silence from before. Chills ran down Rose's spine, the dark and quite being eerily ominous.

"Win-" His sentence was cut short when both teens caught sight of a person holding a bright, red object. Upon closer inspection, they deduced the person was Winry. _'But what is she doing here? And why didn't she call out to us when we yelled for her?'_ Al cautiously moved closer to the girl and was about to speak out again when Winry's voice piped out.

"Such forbidden things…better they remain hidden." There was something strange about her, both thought. For one thing, Winry was acting strangely serious. And she was also speaking in a monotone voice, almost like she was devoid of all emotion.

"…What do you mean?" Al was clearly concerned and a little frightened by her demeanor.

Her back was still to them as she spoke once more. "Temptation gets a man no where. Only the innocent pay dearly for it." The bright red ball dropped from her hands, rolling to the farthest corners of the dark hall; disappearing in the 'unknown' of the train. "Better it's never found…" Her whispered conviction caused both their breaths to hitch in their throat. They stood frozen in place, the ominous feeling engulfing the atmosphere and halting all thought.

Just when they thought all time had frozen in place, footsteps were heard behind the group and, in shock, they turned to look behind them. There stood Ed, looking at them in confusion and leaning on the side of the doorway. "What's going on here?"

"Brother…"

"What the-! What are we doing in here? Come on, let's get out before we get in trouble or something." rang Winry's regular peppy voice behind them. She began shoving them out of the hall. "Come on. What are you guys, statues?" Now Ed was really confused at this point. When the three were escorted out the hall, Winry chatted happily about wanting to get her hands on the new automail hand she heard about and such. Ed wasn't fazed by her cheery behavior, but the others were dumbstruck.

'_That was weird. Wasn't she just saying all that stuff a while ago? Hmm…'_ the blonde in front was chatting away, her ponytail swishing about in elated wonder. _'Maybe I'm finally going crazy, along with having lost my body. Guess my mind has started decaying too.'_ Al swatted that thought away, chucking it too insanity.

The group made their way to the compartment, both blondes arguing about obsession to their individual hobbies and the other two idly watching from a safe distance.

* * *

Sure he said he was going to let the subject go. But just the fact that the weirdness came from Winry was an almost unnerving notion that, in Al's opinion, needed thorough investigation. He didn't pursue at first, observing her reactions first for any indication of the strange behavior from earlier. He kept a trained eye on her, looking out for any small details that were out of place in the normally exuberant girl.

And so far, he had nothing.

So he decided, when Ed went out to take a bathroom break, to be direct and ask her herself. It seemed like a great plan at the time and he didn't foresee his actions disrupting the calm atmosphere or anything. It was merely a simple question asked from a good friend, one who didn't usually have ulterior intentions to his prodding. So when the chance made itself clear (oh, and he made sure of it; shoving cups of water to his brother, in hopes of nature's call to present itself), he inconspicuously took a seat next to the mechanic and started small conversation to set the stage.

"So what's on your mind, Winry?"

The girl tore her gaze from the window and gave the boy a questioning look. "Nothing…I guess."

Steel hands swiftly waved in awkwardness. "Oh! Well, I couldn't help but notice you were looking longingly out the window. I just thought you needed someone to talk with is all." He was sweating bullets at this point, already expecting her suspicions to his 'casual talking' excuse.

She continued looking at him with the same look as the boy in front of her was contemplating his next move. "Right…" If possible, one of her slender eyebrows arched higher on her forehead.

"So is there anything, and I mean, anything you want to, maybe, get off your chest?" A gleam of hope twinkled in his eyes as he neared the girl's face.

"Uh…yeah. Like I said before, I don't have anything I want to talk about. Are you feeling alright, Al?" The boy in question was taken back by the question and backed away some, a look of animated shock on his face.

'_Quick, Al! You have to think of something fast before she becomes suspicious.'_ Even Rose, who was quietly reading moments ago, closed the hard cover and opted to see where the conversation was leading to. _'Ugh! Why is this so much easier for Brother, but not for me? Speaking of Ed, I thought I heard his footsteps close by.'_ The door slid to the side and in came the alchemist, clearly not catching on to the dark cloud looming over the armor's head. _'Noo! There goes my perfect opportunity!'_

When he finished closing the door, Ed turned his attention towards the visibly depressed Al and the blank looks on the two girls. _'The hell? I leave for ten minutes and I come back to this? I've been missing out on a lot of the happenings so far.'_ Walking over to the gloomy boy, he tapped on his arm to get his attention and see if he can get some answers to the crazy antics from the group. "Hey, Al. Somethin' the matter?"

Turning his head slowly, as though it were running through many rigid edges, the armor spoke in a mockingly depressed voice, tears in the shape of pebbles gushing out his eyes. "No, Brother. Everything is just dandy. Maybe utilizing some traits don't come as easy like they do for others. I should just face the fact that I'll never be like you in some ways. It's a cruel destiny at that."

A very confused look dawned on Ed's face, many question marks floating over the alchemist's head. "Huh?"

Al rose from his seat and staggered back to his own, a larger black cloud raining over his head. "It doesn't matter. The mission failed and all hope is gone. I'll just take whatever dignity I have left…" Both blondes looked on confused, the question marks growing in number, as the armored boy plopped back onto his seat while Rose patted his back, finally understanding what he was asking for. "There, there. You did your best and that was more than enough."

Winry turned to Ed and whispered in a hushed tone, "Should we be worried about this?"

Ed thought about it for a second before replying back, "Nah. He's probably going through a phase is all." Suddenly, he noticed the darkened shade in the compartment; indicating the setting sun. "Huh. I guess a lot of time went by."

"Well I don't know about you guys, but I'm pooped. So if no one needs my attention anymore….", she looked to Al as she said this, "I'm going to retire for the day."

"I'm a little tired myself." The Lior girl barely stifled a yawn as she said this. "So I think I'm going to follow your example and get some shut eye." She propped her body against the window while Al sat there, lost in his own thoughts.

"Well, you girls are more than welcome to rest up. I need to look over a few notes before we reach our destination." Slipping a brown, leather bound book from his pocket, he flipped through various pages before setting on the one he last left off at and began silently reading to himself.

But that didn't last long. He felt the mechanic nudging his arm before placing her head on his shoulder. Ed's face flared red upon contact. "W-w-what are you doing?"

Lifting one eye up, a tint of pink gleaming on her skin, Winry craned her head some to look at the blushing alchemist. "W-what does it look like to you? I'm obviously using your shoulder as a make-shift pillow." The pink spread more on her porcelain cheeks before she replied again. "It doesn't bother you…right?" she hesitantly asked.

Ed could only look on in astonishment. _'Since when was she capable of looking so innocent? Great. Now I feel a nosebleed coming on. Damn Winry! And damn her cuteness!'_ He turned his face to the opposite direction, away from her doe eyes, and slapped a hand over his face for turning to putty over one look. "N-no. Not at all. Just remember that my shoulder isn't your personal drool spot."

Ed heard her slightly laughing against his arm, the vibrations traveling up his body and igniting another round of terminal blushing. "Don't worry, you big baby. I don't plan on doing that. But if you tempt me, I will do it." Sarcasm laced her humorous tone.

"We'll see about that, you machine freak." He was too consumed in the warmth of her body to retort with more energy, a notion that was both exhilarating and frightful. _'And I'm supposed to be immune to this?'_

"Thank you, Edward." Winry whispered against his arm. It was loud enough for only him to hear, and such knowledge was enough to make him feel special. It wasn't long before he heard her breathing evening out. And during that whole time, he hadn't picked up his book once.

* * *

Ed was faintly aware of the blow horn from the train going off, before he felt Al nudging his shoulder. "Come on, Brother. It's time to get up."

He looked up with droopy eyes and a thin trail of saliva hanging from the corner of his mouth. "Uwaa?"

"We made it to Dublith."

Ed craned his head sideways to stretch out his sore muscles from sleeping upright. His eyes were still relatively droopy, but not so bad that he wasn't slipping into unconsciousness like moments ago. "Oh."

A smirk appeared on the armor's face as he began walking to the door. "Me and Rose will be waiting for you at the front. So I'll leave the job of waking Winry to her prince charming." He went out the door, chuckling to himself about the predicament his brother was in.

Ed, on the other hand, was perplexed by his words. _'Waking Winry up? What the hell does he mean with that?'_ He started getting up, when he felt a pressure at his legs.

Nothing could prepare him for the sight bestowed upon him when he looked at his lap.

A sleeping Winry was curled up on his lap, a serene smile tugged at the corners of flush lips. Her hair pooled around his legs and he suddenly noticed her hair tie in his automail arm. The idea of it being a compromising position didn't come to mind for the alchemist prodigy. All he could register was the beauty lying on his lap, peacefully oblivious to the world.

_So I'll leave the job of waking Winry to her prince charming._

The weight of Al's words finally set in as the teen blushed profusely. Suddenly, the once lovely feeling of having the blonde close to him became a death trap in of itself. He notably became self aware of the burning sensation from his lower half, his legs rods of fire and his heart a jumbled mess. And to think he hadn't caught on to these feeling long before.

After that, he wasn't so sure about waking her from her slumber. Every moment spent nursing a considerably large lump to the head awakened previous feelings of dread and excruciating pain. And he was in no hurry to meet his demise.

But sitting here and waiting for the girl to awake on her own was a lost cause. By the time she'd have woken up, the train would have already been long gone and traveling back to other stations to gather more commuters. So regardless if he got a wrench to the head or not, he had to take the initiative and wake her himself. So he proceeded to lightly shake her shoulders. Other than the faint murmurs, Winry was as dead to the world as any deep sleeper could be. He, then, decided to shake a little harder. And again, there was no improvement from the first try. When that didn't work, he shook her and whispered in her ear to "wake up". But even that was a total failure. The minutes were ticking away quicker than he anticipated. So he went about waking her….in a much more different matter. He knew ahead of time, going into this would eventually come back to him to bite him in the ass. But with his options already limited and having previous attempts result in failures, one couldn't think of the consequences. Besides, the train wasn't going to wait for them to leave and it was only a matter of time before they were shipped to the next city over.

So in an almost renewed determination since being abandoned with the task, he reached for the abandoned cup of water on the other end of the seat, plugging her nose in the process (while mentally praying to all the gods known to man to aid him in his task, sparing the most vital parts of his body from future 'dismemberment'), and held the suspended cup of water above her head. _'Well, it's now or never. I just hope she finds it in her to forgive me….yeah right! She's totally going to kick my ass. But I'll deal with that, and that traitorous brother of mines, in due time. Right now, I have to focus on getting this logged girl to open her eyes.'_ The cup shook some in his trembling hands, ember eyes dilating and perspiration forming on his forehead. Possible tortures from the girl below filtered through his imagination. And suddenly, the idea of pouring water on her not only seemed risky but dangerous above all else. He heard the faint callings of the conductor, telling people to quickly leave the train and for others to prepare for departure. _'Come on, Ed. Grow some balls already and just do it!' _He started tipping the cup downward.

The mechanic's eyes barely fluttered open when a barrage of water came crashing down onto her face. "What the hell?" she yelled out, furiously wiping at her eyes. She was spraying water from her mouth and muttering several curses in her moment of bewilderment. When her focus became clear, she saw a terrified Ed staring down at her and an empty cup on hand. Trickles of sweat rolled down his face as he saw the scene play out before him in transfixed fear. And it didn't take very long for Winry to whip out her trusty wrench to clobber the alchemist with. "Eeeeed!"

"Holy Sh-!" The next thing the two other occupants heard from outside the train was the clank of metal against someone's skull.

* * *

**A/N:** Well, that's that for you guys (and gals). I'm surprised that I managed to write a whole lot on this chapter. Hope it wasn't too long for some of you. I was just so caught up in the moment, that I couldn't figure out where I wanted to end it. It was really fun writing about Al and adding some Al/Rose in there, considering the shortage of fan fiction for them. The fighting between Ed and Winry is always enjoyable too. So I hope to get some more reviews. Cuz lets face it, reviews are what make a writer's day. And I've been most grateful for the ones I've received. So to wrap things up, leave me a review and I hope to see some familiar names (along with new comers) for next chapter.

Till then, buh-bye!


	7. Confusion

**A/N:** Hey, hey, hey~ I hope everyone is having a great day. I know I am. For one, I got a new puppy (Labradoodle) and he's the cutest thing I've ever seen. Gosh, I'm just so happy to have him! He looks just like the Corduroy bear, but in dog form. Oh, and seeing the new OP from FMAB made me go into full-out fan girl mode. You can definitely tell at this point that Arakawa shows great support for EdWin. And who wouldn't? Though, I'm a little puzzled by the part where it shows Truth!Winry. Did that catch some of you off guard too? Just wondering cuz I know it made me do a double take. A lot of people theorized that Truth might taunt Ed sometime in the later chapters by using the form of Winry or that it represents her soul being used for the Philosopher's Stone. Who knows. But I didn't complain otherwise. And the song Rain by Uso they used for it was great! The full song isn't scheduled to come out till June, so I've been settling for the short version instead. All in all, I've been having a good time so far. Well, I'll let you guys get to reading the next chappie. So enjoy this next installment.

"regular dialogue"

"_dream talk"_

'_mental thought'_

_

* * *

_

**Chapter 7: Confusion**

It was around mid noon when the group arrived at the butcher shop belonging to their alchemy teacher Izumi. The strong aroma of fresh meat wafted in the air and a semi broad man left through the glass door, a large bag slung over his shoulders. Al easily recognized the man as Mason.

"Hey, Mason!" Al yelled out, waving a hand in the air.

Mason turned around and waved back when he saw who it was. He dropped off the bag by the door and walked over to the group. "Hey, Al. So who are these two lovely ladies?" he asked, motioning to Winry and Rose.

Al blushed a little as he said this. "This is my childhood friend, Winry." Winry offered her hand to give him a handshake and said her hello to him. "A-and this is our friend Rose. She's from Lior." And for the second time during their trip, the f-word caused a pang of hurt in his soul. Rose didn't seem to notice in the least. She, too, shook Mason's hand and said a hello.

"So what brings you here to Dublith? Did you come here to see Izumi? Because if you did, you managed to get here a little too late."

"So where did teacher go?" Al inquired.

"She just went on an errand for an old friend of hers. But she should be back tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" His tone indicated that he was concerned over the information he received. "Is everything alright?"

Mason caught on to his concern and quickly went about explaining himself. "Oh, no. Nothings absolutely wrong, Al. Izumi just said she needed to drop off something for an old friend of hers. That's all."

His spirit perked up in relief after hearing that his teacher was alright. "Phew. And for a minute there, I thought she was going on a dangerous mission or something."

"Nah." A large grin plastered on his face. "Besides, you and I know better than to underestimate her abilities. And you had the scars to prove it too."

"Yup! Though, I'd rather not re-live any of those horrible memories thank you."

Mason took notice of the setting sun for a moment before turning his attention back to the group. "So, where are you guys off to now?"

"Actually, we've gotta go book a couple of rooms to stay at for the night. But we'll be sure to come by tomorrow to talk to teacher."

"Sounds like a plan!" he said as her was lightly smacking Al's back, laughing at the memories from long ago. But his small laughter came to an abrupt stop upon realization of something. "Hey wait." Mason was swiftly looking in all directions . "Where's Ed?" He noted the drastic change of the group's mood when he spoke of Ed's absence. Al was nervously fidgeting with his fingers and while Rose stepped closer to Al as she turned her gaze outward in what could be interpreted as unease.

Winry, being the only person well composed, gripped more tighter on the object in her hand while saying "Oh, I'm sorry to say but Ed is kind of busy right now. As we speak, he's taking a nice little nap to recuperate from his sudden injuries." As she spoke, a smile was gracing her features and her sickly sweet voice (sounding forced if any) piped out. But the pulsing vein on the side of her head didn't go unnoticed. In fact, Mason and the others were cowering in fear from the deathly aura surrounding her form. "But don't worry about him. He's being well taken cared of. So now if you'll excuse us, we have to hurry and find a hotel to stay at." The mechanic, without so much as waiting for anyone, started walking towards the direction where she presumed would be the location of a hotel. Dragging behind her was the limp body of the alchemist, being pulled by his braid along the cobble stone path.

When the girl was at a considerably far distance, cheerily whistling to herself, the shocked butcher turned from the menacing girl's retreating figure and voiced his thoughts to the remaining travelers. "Uh…should I be worried for him?"

The armored boy, without the hesitation that was present moments before, turned to the man and exclaimed, "Believe me when I say this: Ed definitely had it coming to him, considering what the idiot did to her." There was a blaze burning behind those opaque orbs as he said this. He truly was disappointed in the alchemist for messing up his once in a lifetime given opportunity. _'__I swear. Ed can be so oblivious sometimes. Where in the world did he interpret a cup of water to the face from what I was hinting at before? And really, water!' _Steam was practically bursting from his helmet at the mention of Ed's undoubtedly, stupid action in the train.

Mason watched with mild confusion as the younger Elric muttered several death threats concerning his older brother. He turned an arched brow at Rose, who also shared a look of apprehension as Al. "Should I even bother to ask?"

She brought a tanned hand to her forehead, sliding it down her shut eyed face, and heaved a long sigh before lifting her gaze towards his. "Honestly? I think this matter is too frustrating to discuss. I'm just as disappointed in him as Al. The nerve of him too…" She said the last part as though to herself, watching with weary eyes at the distant figure belonging to the blondes. Clouds of dust were forming from the limp body being dragged and Winry's cheery whistling could still be heard, despite the distance between her and them. _'Strange. When I think about how they love one another, it doesn't seem to bother me like before. In fact, even when Al told me in the train it still didn't hurt as bad.'_ Amethyst eyes turn to gaze at the armored boy telling Mason how ungrateful his brother was and such. Chills ran up her arms and she could have sworn the temperature had risen a couple of degrees, despite the winds of spring picking up. She vigorously rubbed at them, letting the afternoon wind tousle her brown locks around.

"For crying out loud! Does he even know what it means to be romantic?" Al yelled out, flailing his arms about out of exasperation as he spoke with Mason.

"Uh, Al…?" Beads of sweat were forming on the butcher's head, still perplexed by the matter.

Al continued on as though he didn't hear Mason's questioning tone, fury elevating his tone. "All I know is, he better get his act together if he's hoping for anything good to come out of this."

"But Al." He was beginning to think his attempts at reigning in the teen's anger was as much of a lost cause as trying to convince Sig that smiling for the customers once in a while would help in not scaring them away.

"Oh, well let me tell you a thing or two about…"

The fussing went on for another couple of minutes before the younger teen settled down and came to realize that it was getting late. And during that time, Rose continued to watch the ranting play out while mentally convincing herself that the chill from earlier was probably due to the wind. Or at least that's what she wanted to believe, as her heart skipped a few beats when she looked at him.

* * *

Ed managed to wake from his temporary coma, to which he heavily complained about when he entered the room he and Al reserved for themselves.

"Ugh! What is up with the machine geek, hitting me over the head with that huge ass wrench of hers! Does she honestly think I enjoy my skull getting smashed in?" As he said this, he went about pacing the room, grunting ever so often, with his hands tucked in his pant pockets; a scowl marring his face. Each round he made around the room elicited a louder stomp to the floor, earning another sigh from the armored teen sitting on the bed opposite of him.

Al was well accustomed to his brother's patterns of irritation and knew not, at this point, to be bothered as much by it. He set the paperback he was reading in the train on the nightstand to regard his brother's present anger, hoping to get a word in himself about his brother's rash decisions and the consequences that result from them. "But things would have went better if you hadn't poured that cup of water on her."

"The train was close to leaving, Al!" He stopped mid pace to turn and look at Al, fury dancing in his ember orbs. "What did you want me to do? Continue nudging her on our way to YOSMITE! Because with the way she sleeps, we might as well have stayed on the train."

"And dumping water on her was a more reasonable solution?"

"YES!"

If his soul wasn't trapped to a suit of armor, Al was convinced he'd have been suffering a massive headache by now. This conversation was obviously going nowhere, due to Ed's evident irritation and stubbornness. But with Ed, there was no guarantee for a plausible solution. The most anyone could hope for was that he cooled down enough to see the error of his ways and, in his own fashion, make amends for it. But even that was too much to ask for.

"Ok, Brother. But did you hear what I was telling you on the train?" he asked with a hint of hope.

But his question was simply met with a deeper scowl. "Of course, Al. I'm not an idiot. **You** asked me to wake her and that's exactly what I did."

"But with water!" Despite his training against such arrogance, Al couldn't help but be frustrated with this. Especially when it came to his childhood friend who he knew was hurt constantly by Ed's lack of concern. Well, more specifically when he didn't voice his concern and had a knack for speaking before thinking.

"Yeeah?" he drawled on. "And I saved our asses from making a one way trip to Xing."

"But when I said I'll leave the waking to her 'Prince charming', I meant I'll leave it to her Prince Charming!"

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You are so naïve! It means that I left you with the perfect opportunity to further you guys' relationship!"

Steam was practically blowing out of his cherry top head when Al said that. "W-what? D-did you say r-relationship?"

"Yes, Ed. Relationship. You know, as in couples and feelings? Seriously, don't tell me you've never heard about it."

"W-well? Just because I love her doesn't mean she necessarily feels the same. And there's no relationship between us. If anything, I'm the cash cow that she enjoys giving brain damage to."

"Well no offence, but a lot of the times it is your fault."

"Regardless. If she supposedly had the same feelings as I do, she wouldn't express this love of hers through means of violence."

"So why don't you tell her that you love her and spare us bystanders of your love from pulling all the hair off our heads."

"Because, Al! I…!" His rant fell short suddenly, causing surprise in the younger Elric.

Ed pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling loudly through his nostrils, and flopped down on the other bed. He hung his head low and gave the floor a long, hard stare as he inwardly started practicing the breathing techniques their teacher instilled in them during their training. The silence that came next was most unexpected. Usually, the blonde would rant on for hours before his yelling fell silent. And even then, he'd sneak in a word or two about his frustration. But for him to get over the issue so quick, especially one regarding his mechanic, was more than surprising to Al.

Ed continued his breathing exercises, but his glare faltered some. Al didn't know whether to speak out or let him resolve this on his own, as he had a tendency of always urging him to think rationally about his actions. But he was still trying to recover from his brother's sudden show of calamity. He wasn't even sure what to think of this. It was obviously a change from the usual ranting that occurred frequently. But at the same time, it seemed almost foreign to think of 'calm' and 'Ed' in the same sentence.

"I screwed up, didn't I?" He looked up to meet his brothers blank stare.

Al noted that the blonde's face went slack, indicating he felt remorseful about something. Not to mention the mellowness in his voice was a dead give away.

"Yeah. You sure did." The truth behind his solemn voice caused the blonde in front of him to flinch some. A look of recognition crossed his ember eyes and Al knew from there that he was getting through to him, despite his anger from earlier. He walked over to Ed and gave his shoulder a small nudge as he offered him a cheeky grin through the metal face. "But that doesn't mean it can't be fixed."

Ed looked up with a small smile of his own. Because even in the depths of despair, Al knew exactly how to cheer him up. "You're right, Al. But you know I'm not very good with showing affection." He ran calloused fingers through his hair in aggression, frazzling the top of his head in the process. "How the hell am I supposed to act around Winry now? I've never felt this way before. Just the thought of her puts me in a stupor while she carries on without a care, bashing my head in at any given opportunity and pouting in that cute way…Urgh!" Al, with a look of exasperation, waited for Ed to get over his freaking out, consisting of profuse blushing and rapidly pulling at his bangs. He was a jumbled mess of emotions at this point and the two hadn't even confessed to one another.

"You're so hopeless."

* * *

"He's so hopeless." Winry was finishing up with unpacking when she heard Ed's yelling coming from down the hall. She smacked a hand to her temple, walking over to the vanity to place a couple of the blueprints there for inspection tomorrow. Even when she was far from Rush Valley, the change in location didn't stop the aspiring mechanic from coming up with new prototypes. Plus, it kept her feelings of anguish at bay. It was better to immerse herself in her life's work than to think about the man that had threatened her and the recent death of her only remaining family member. The pain from Pinako's death was still fresh and she allowed herself to think of her when no one was around. After all, the boys already had a lot on their hands. They didn't need her whining to add to it.

She was tucking her toolbox under her bed when Rose emerged from the bathroom in a pair of lavender shorts and matching sleep shirt, hair matted down and skin glistening from her showering. A small, cotton towel hung around her shoulders as she used one end to wipe excess moisture from her flushed face. She went towards her luggage bag and pulled out a wooden comb to untangle any knots in her hair. While doing so, she turned to her mechanic friend who was clad in her usual sleep gown that cut a little ways above her knees.

"The bathroom is available now if you want to use it." She continued brushing through her hair as she spoke, hitting a particular knot that had her wincing.

Black boots were set aside near the bed before she turned her attention to the other girl. "Thanks. Oh, and don't worry about keeping the lights on. I can pretty much maneuver my way around things since I've done it for so long in my tool-cluttered room."

"Ok. So I'll see you tomorrow for some much needed touring around Dublith. After all, we should take advantage of this opportunity and make the best of it. Wouldn't you say?"

"Haha. Yeah, we should. And I'll see you tomorrow also." Winry grabbed a quick change of underwear before entering the bleach white room. Once inside, she went about filling the tub with luke warm water. While the water was running, she walked to the mirror and stared at her reflection. There was some shadowing underneath her eyes and a small bruise hidden under her bangs from when she fell against the doorframe in shock after discovering her grandmother's dead body. But other than that, she looked fine. Or at least, on the outside for that matter. She placed a hand on the quickly fogging mirror as she continued to stare at herself.

'_What a crazy couple of days I've been having. First my grandmother dies. And now I have a madman after me and I don't even know what's going on around me. Ed still refuses to let me in on what's happening. Just like always…'_ Small tremors were wracking her body, as tears threatened to spill from her eyes. She leaned over the sink as a hand flew to her mouth to muffle her sobs. _'Don't cry. Don't cry. Remember: you don't want to worry anyone. You just shouldn't.'_ The tiled floor felt cold when her knees came in contact with it. The water continued running in the background, giving Winry a sense of relief since Rose wouldn't be able to hear her crying pathetically on the floor. _'Granny…I'm so sorry. I should have been there when you needed me most. If only I was there to help you. And why can't Ed trust me with what he knows? Doesn't he see that it hurts me when he keeps me at arms length? Doesn't he care about how I feel? ….Why?'_

Warm liquid pooled around her feet some time after. And when she looked down to see what it was, she saw that it was water and she immediately jolted up to turn the water off on the tub. She pulled off the plug to let some of the water off and used one of the towels on the shelf to wipe off the water on the floor. _'Heh. What am I doing? I just almost drowned myself in the bathroom, for crying out loud.'_ She used the back of her hands to wipe at her tears, a smirk forming on her lips. _'All I need is a nice, warm bath. Yeah, that should do it.'_ After one last check for any stray water patches, she lowered herself in the awaiting water and let the warmth of the tub fill her senses.

She shut her eyes and sunk further in the water till it circled around her nose. Blonde hair floated about as she pictured the familiar scenery of Risembool. The large expanse of greenery that went on forever and the clear blue sky that one could only enjoy out in the countryside. _'I can still remember that one time granny taught me and the boys how to properly shave a sheep. It was so hilarious when Ed tried holding down one and he ended up getting kicked in the face. Oh, and that time when Al found a stray cat and hid it under Ed's pillows. Ed sure did get a lot of claw markings to the face when he accidently jumped onto his bed after playing for so long. _

_We were all so happy back then. In those days, there was no such thing as failed human transformation or the military. Just playing outside and staying up late to tell stories. The worst we had to deal with was punishment from our parents. Never did we think that we'd someday go our separate ways and face the many dangers of life all at once. And trust has become a large issue between me and them. Heh. Would I give to return to those times. Ed…Al…'_

A sudden wave of drowsiness overtook her senses. She fought to keep with consciousness, her hand holding onto the rim of the tub to keep herself upright. But she could feel herself slipping into the black fairly quickly. _'I feel so sleepy. Maybe a bath…wasn't such…a good idea…'_ Despite the small resistance, her mind eventually succumbed to Mistress Slumber as her body floated in the water.

What she didn't know, however, was the hand that crept onto her own, giving it a firm grasp. A white light engulfed the room, unnoticed by the sleeping girl on the other side.

* * *

"Ah. Time to get some much needed shut eye."

After a long talk with Al, Ed felt refreshed and stress-free. He still felt bad about not going over to the girls' room to apologize to Winry. But he figured that she still needed to get it out of her system and seeing him was probably not the greatest of things for her at the moment. So he settled for going to bed and maybe taking her out for an excursion of the town, granted she didn't want to drive him broke with her whims for tools. That, he didn't want to go through again.

But he couldn't help but feel relieved to finally have his feelings out in the open, or at least having confided in his brother about it. Not the most impressive of things, considering that he didn't even tell Winry herself about this. But it was a good first step towards acceptance of said feelings. It still perplexes him how he seemingly passed off the feelings he was harboring as nothing more than strange emotions or the result of something he ate. How he never took a good enough look at the young girl who put all her faith in him. And she's shown it by entrusting him with her most valuable and durable automail. His automail was special because she puts so much effort into it. Or how she's done nothing but give when it came to housing and caring for them. And despite all the fights they've been through, and all the crying he's caused her, she's never once turned him away. Rather, she's stayed by his side and gave him a place to call home. A home for them. So from now on, he wasn't going to shy from these feelings. He wanted Winry to feel the same elated feeling he was experiencing. But now he had to muster up the courage to tell her, without dying from a terminal case of blushing.

Al left some time before to check out the small library in the hotel, seeing that he finished the other book during Ed's tantrum over his mechanic friend. So when he heard the doorknob jiggling, he assumed it to be Al. "Coming!" he turned on the lamp near him before rising out of bed. The jiggling increased in vigor as he was approaching the door. "I said I'm coming, Al! So hold your horses." When he placed his hand on the knob, it suddenly stopped shaking. Ed found it a little peculiar, if not weird. "That's strange. I'm opening the door, Al." But when he did, there was no one in sight.

"Al…?" Looking around from inside the room, he couldn't see anyone around. The power to the hall seemed to have gone out, allowing him minimal vision of the hall. "Hey, Al-! What the hell?" He looked down to his feet when he felt something wet beneath. A considerably large spot of liquid formed at the foot of the doorway. Crouching down and inspecting the spot, he deduced it to be water. There was still no sign of any inhabitants around the hall. Ed was a little worried at this point, concerned that something happened to Al. So he closed the door and rushed to throw on his black shirt and pants before heading out the room. He zoomed down the stairs with lightning speed, the doors leading to the library in view up ahead.

When he reached the room where Al was supposedly, he didn't see sight of him at all. He started getting panicked and asked around if anyone had seen his brother. But every staff member said they last saw him in the library.

He went about roaming the halls, in hopes of finding his brother wandering them. Every time he walked rushed through a hall, the lights would flicker some and, if not mistaken, he thought he heard some whispering. But he wasn't about to let that throw him off guard. He scoured the top floor and made his way down from there. But still no sign of the huge armor.

"Al! Where are you?" He kept calling out his name. But with no success. It was like he just up and vanished. His searching became more desperate with each empty room and hallway. And it didn't help that no one knew where he was.

He rushed south, towards the pool area. His guess was that their doorway had a wet spot on it because Al had been near the pool. And if that was the case, it meant that there was a chance Al was somewhere near there. So with hopeful eyes, he slammed open the doors leading outside to the pool area.

But instead of finding Al, he came across Winry.

She was standing at the edge of the pool, her white nightgown clinging to her frame in the same manner her hair was. She was sopping wet from head to toe, a large puddle building under her feet. Her back was turned to him and it seemed like she didn't notice his presence.

"Winry? What are you doing here? And why on earth are you wet? Were you the one at my door?"

"…"

"Winry?" He slowly walked to her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Come on. Lets go inside befo-"

"Go away."

Ed was kind of confused by the tone in her voice. It wasn't the usual cheerfulness or anger. The voice that left her lips was more monotone than anything. Not to mention, her skin was as cold as ice. But that was probably due to her being drenched in water.

"Winry? What's wrong? "

"…"

"Look, if it's about earlier I can-"

"I said go away."

He was getting a little irate at her lack of compliance. "You know I can't do that until you tell me what's going on."

"…Foolish, persistent human."

"What?"

"…"

"That's it. I've had enough of this game of yours. I'm going to take you inside whether you like it or not." He yanked hard on her hand and headed towards the door, Winry in tow. But before they could reach the door, Ed felt himself being pulled roughly from behind. He was thrown into the pool with Winry looking down at him from the edge. He noticed with vague vision that a red glow emanated from her lifeless blue eyes. A look of pure venom graced her features and Ed was almost sure that this wasn't Winry. "What the…?"

A malicious grin formed on her lips as she looked on at the alchemist's confusion. It wasn't long before she lunged down and started submerging his head in the water.

"Win-!" Her hands her forcibly pushing down on his shoulders, keeping him from escaping to the surface. His hands wailed around as he continuously kicked his feet to stay a float. He managed to push one hand off and get his head to the top. But the moment was short lived when her hand came back around and applied more force to his body.

The struggle went on for a while before Ed started feeling lightheaded. His movements became more sluggish with each passing moment and it didn't take long before he ran out of oxygen. So with one last attempt at fighting off her hands, he released the breath he was holding in and felt a rush of water enter his mouth. His eyelids became droopy and he released his hold on her arms.

And right before he passed out, he saw Winry looking down with that same grin, her bangs shielding her eyes, as she mouthed something to him.

_I'm sorry._

_

* * *

_

**A/N:** Well, that's chappie 7 for you. So what did you guys think about it? I'm sure a lot of you are lost on what's going on and are in need of answers. But I assure you that all will be explained in due time. Until then, be sure to leave me a comment about what you thought of this chapter. Now I'm going to stop procrastinating and get my butt to doing that homework. Though, I'll be sure to work on the next chapter sometime after the work overload.

So until then, good-bye and have as happy a day as I'm having.


	8. Dreams or Reality

**A/N:** Just when life was finally looking up for me, the bearer of all evils had to make her entrance in my life…AGAIN! Grr! For those of you who're very confused by this, my grandmother aka 'Cruella de Vil/Ursula' decided to leave her cigarette smoke cave and visit my family. This is the same woman who practices black magic, chanting various ones in hopes that it will get rid of my mother, and gets a joy out of making family turn against her. As if it wasn't enough that she bad-mouths the family with the rest that don't like us, out of pure jealousy, but she wants to visit to get more dirt to gossip with them about. So I managed to endure the weekend visit without so much as shouting many inappropriate names at her. and like expected, she did the usual when she was living here. And she's sneaky too because she has my dad wrapped around her wrinkly finger, so she knows how to play the game to her advantage. But I survived (barely T_T ). So I'm sorry to have vented my personal issues with you guys. At least I can take pleasure in knowing that no one likes her and the day she dies is going to be a very lonely and emotionless one (…well, other than the feelings of wanting to jump for joy). Ok, so maybe I'm not that cruel hearted and don't wish ill will on people. But she truly is the devil incarnate. So I can't help but feel animosity towards her. Oh, well. So to sidestep from this anger venting, I present to you the next chapter. So like I always say: enjoy!

"regular dialogue"

"_dream talk"_

'_mental thought'_

_

* * *

_

**Chapter 8: Dreams or Reality**

The world was all white, with no sign of any human life. The space, itself, was an empty abyss for it was bear of any furnishing and such.

She walked around the place, barefoot and mildly confused about the location she was in. Something, somewhere in the back of her mind, told her that this eerie place was familiar, but her brain was unable to recollect these foreign memories that said otherwise. She aimlessly walked about as she scoured for some sort of exit. But to no avail, the place was more of an expanse than she guessed it to be. Eventually, she got tired of walking in every direction and decided to take a small break on the white floor. As she sat there, with her legs crossed and white night gown barely keeping warmth to her legs, she tried to think about how she ended up there.

She thought long and hard. But as of far, she couldn't come up with a single solution as to how she ended up in such a world. But as she looked around the empty space, she subconsciously expected two gravity-defying doors on either side. And no amount of reasoning could explain to her why she thought that.

When she felt she was well rested, she got back up and resumed her search for something. Each step she took seemed to resound all around her in the form of loud echoing. She wondered how big the place was and if any kind of civilization lived here. As the girl walked about, she pulled a strand of blonde hair between her fingertips and coiled it around in a sort of nervous habit.

'_I wonder if I always used to do this back where I lived. Except, I don't know exactly where home even was or who I am in general.'_

Her blue eyes gazed in all directions, as though expecting someone to pop out of nowhere. At least, that's what she was hoping for. She hugged her arms closer to her body in a desperate need to keep warm.

'_And it sure is getting colder in here. Where am I?'_

"_Winry!"_

"_Huh?"_ She quickly spun on her feet when she heard a yell behind her. But there was no one there when she looked. It was after that first yell that many more noises sounded in every direction. She stood still while trying to make out what the voice was saying amongst all the water sloshing noises.

"_Hello? Who's there?"_ The sloshing noises got louder and louder, leaving her even more confused.

"_Hey! Anyone!"_ An unexplained fear struck at the core of her heart and her legs started quivering on their own. Her left hand gripped at the thin material covering her left breast with a firm grip. She felt like her heart was experiencing palpitations.

"_Please! Answer me!"_ Her callings became more desperate as the noises increased in volume, the voice drowning quickly in the background. The pain attacking her heart got too unbearable to withstand and it didn't take long before the girl succumbed to the anguish, kneeling on one knee while gripping tighter on her chest. _'Why is this happening to me?'_ Spasms of violent coughing issued from the girl, wracking her body in its wake.

Out of nowhere, patches of the white space was crumbling and masses of water rushed through the holes. It fell with a loud crash of white and blue, gaining velocity towards the incapacitated girl. Blue eyes dilated at the sight before her. She tried to lift herself off the floor, but with no success. The body of water engulfed her being and whisked her about. Due to the pain from earlier, the girl could only hold in enough breath to keep her going for a minute. And already she was feeling light-headed from the big rush. She was making desperate attempts to pull herself to the top, and if it wasn't too late then, to safety. But numbness overcame her limbs as she struggled to hold through.

Ember eyes flashed in her mind, recognition settling on her fatigued face.

The man's face, which the ember eyes belonged to, gave her a wide grin, bringing a small smile to her own. As her consciousness was rapidly slipping, she uttered her last words, to the familiar man's image in her mind, before darkness claimed her whole.

"_I'm sorry."_

_

* * *

_

A throbbing pain to the head was the first thing the man woke to. He brought his flesh hand up from under the covers to rub at his temple, feeling a wet towel covering the spot.

He cracked his eyes open to regard the presence beside him, seeing a large suit of metal sitting on a wooden chair and staring right at him.

"Hey, Brother. Are you feeling alright now?" Al sounded happy and worried, momentarily confusing Ed on the spot.

"What are you talking about, Al? Of course I'm…Wait!" He swiftly lifted himself off the bed, looking at Al with panic. "Where's Winry? Is she here?"

Al was taken back by his abrupt panic. But he answered his brother nonetheless. "Uh…yeah? As a matter of fact, she's down at the cafeteria getting you something warm to eat."

Flashes of the event from last night bombarded his mind, Winry acting totally out of character and drowning him with a look most unbefitting on her face. He directed his gaze towards the door, hoping that the girl that'll be walking through it is the same machine geek he's known since birth and not the crazed and indifferent person he saw yesterday. "…Oh."

Al caught on to his worried tone and was curious to know what was laying heavily on his brother's mind. "Why did you ask?"

"Huh?" It seemed he was broken out of some trance when he heard Al's voice again. He looked at the armored teen in a silent way of asking him to repeat himself, eyes holding an unsettling emotion behind them.

"Why did you ask me if Winry was here?"

He tensed some, his mouth opening before closing up again. He looked back to the door before speaking up again. "No reason."

It was at the moment that the doorknob twisted clockwise and Winry, tray full of soup and crackers, stepped in. A large smile tugged at the corner of her lips, blue eyes wide with warmth, and Ed wasn't sure what to make of the situation. She was a walking contradiction from the Winry of last night. As she began setting the tray on the table and pouring him a glass of orange juice in a glass cup, reels of images from the pool incident continued to flash in his head. He shuttered at the thought of Winry acting like that.

'_What the hell happened last night? I know for a fact that the Winry from last night wasn't her at all. She would never do anything so harmful to me. Never! Heck, she throws wrenches and other sorts of tools at my head. But she'd never take it so far as to try and kill me. It's just not possible.'_

"Here, Ed. I'm sure you're pretty thirsty after all the sweating you did last night." Winry handed him the cup, still smiling like she did when she first entered the room. He put the rim to his parched lips and downed some, his thoughts still running amok.

'_That's right. This is Winry I'm talking about here. Same sweet, caring, grease monkey otaku Winry. So then…why did she do that to me last night? Was it really Winry I saw at the pool, or an imposter? It's hard to tell if what happened was real and she's just playing it off like nothing's happened or what I thought was real was nothing more than a sleep induced illusion.'_

"So how are you feeling now, Brother? Do you still feel feverish?"

"If you want Ed, I can always run down to the pharmacy and get you something to combat the illness if it's still persisting."

Al turned to the blonde mechanic next to him. "Actually, that'd probably be a good idea. After all, he was lying in the pool unconscious when you found him yeste-"

"What? What's this all about finding me unconscious in the pool?" he asked out loud. He reverted his gaze between both, seeking truth to all the mess going on in his mind.

Al was the first to speak, regarding him with what could be considered akin to a confused expression on his expressionless face. "You mean you don't remember anything of what happened last night?"

The elder Elric reciprocated confusion at his inquiry. He wasn't sure what to believe at this point, so he played it safe and decided to lie instead to see where this led. Hopefully, it'd clear up any misunderstandings he had about what happened the night before. "No."

"Oh. Well I don't know the full details, but Winry heard some noises coming from our room after I left to the library room and decided to go check up on you. She knocked on the door and kept turning the knob when you didn't answer. She managed to open the door, but didn't see you inside. So she looked all around the hotel and went to the pool area and found you floating at the bottom of the pool. She brought you to the room and informed me of what happened. And you must have been in there long because you immediately caught a high fever. And let me tell you, you're no easy task to manage when you're ill. But it looks like now your immunity started to kick in and is giving you a fast recovery."

"And you have no idea how worried I was to see you in the water like that. You stupid jerk. Don't you ever scare me like that again." The look in her eyes told him that she was genuinely concerned about his well-being. Unshed tears wavered in her baby blues. Her hands clutched at the edge of his bed, unnoticed by the younger boy. But not Ed. He saw what she thought she hid well. The raw emotion on her face was enough to make him almost forget the malicious face that she wore before, though he wasn't sure if the story his mind conjured up could possibly be true after hearing what happened.

'_Maybe I was overworking myself and my imagination decided to take a sick turn for the worst in my dream. Rather, nightmare is the more appropriate term for what I dreamt. Besides, Winry isn't the kind of person who'd do something like that. I know Winry. And last night could not have happened.'_

He took her tightly clenched hand in his own, giving it a reassuring squeeze as he spoke. "Sorry for worrying you. But I promise that'll never happen again. Ok?"

A faint blush covered her cheeks when she felt his hand encase her own. The smile he gave her caused her to smile herself. "Alright."

She gave his hand a squeeze in return. Her face lost all traces of worry and was replaced with overwhelming love instead. Her eyes slanted a little, her smile lessening. It was like she was in a trance as she stared at the ember eyes gazing at her. Somewhere along the transfixed staring, she got on her knees and leaned considerably close to the teen in front of her. She couldn't help but stare at him, disregarding Al's presence in the room. _'I don't think I've ever encountered anything with the same shade of ember like Ed's eyes. It's almost like bathing under the sun's rays; they radiate warmth and power. His smell is unchanged; he still smells like oil and earth. Such a nice combination on him. And his lips…I wonder what they'd feel like pressed against my own.'_

Ed was also transfixed by Winry's presence. He didn't know what came over him, but he wasn't about to complain now. He just kept his line of vision on her, admiring her eyes at the moment. _'Such a nice shade of blue her eyes have. Like the sky back in Risembool. Even her hair has a unique shine to it; like the cornfields in summer and it radiates the moon's glow perfectly at night. And her lips. Why can't I stop staring at them?'_

The two kept staring at one another, hands still holding and cheeks flushed on both ends. Al wasn't sure whether to leave and give them some privacy or interrupt their little moment to taunt Ed. Both were pretty rewarding, but he chose to leave and see if the opportunity presented would allow them to confess to each other.

Ed was the first to break from the moment when he heard giggling at the door. Both heads, cheery red at the time, turned to see Rose attempting to stifle her giggling as she watched the scene before her from the door frame. Al was also blushing, but not for the same reason. His tiny white orbs were tracing over the girl's figure in the sleep shorts and matching top. He didn't get much viewing in before the Lior girl turned to the suit of armor and gave him a sweet smile, unaware of his staring. It only caused him to blush more, steam coming out in puffs from the open crevices in his armor body.

She then turned her attention to the blonde pair in front of her. "I'm sorry about that. But the way you two were looking at each other, I could swear you were lost in each other's eyes. It was simply adorable."

Ed was shocked beyond all belief. The gears in his head started running and he could imagine the girl taunting him in that same fashion Lieutenant Hawkeye did, waving a finger in the air and claiming how the alchemist was very much head over heels in love with Winry. And even though Ed has come to terms with his feelings for said girl, that didn't mean he took well to others teasing him about it.

He yanked his hand from Winry's, stuttering many elements at a fast rate, and fleeing the bed to the bathroom before releasing a tirade of uncontrollable ranting after securely locking the door. It was hard to distinguish all the babble he yelled out, other than the occasional 'just my mechanic' and 'not in denial'. Winry stayed rooted to the foot of the bed, frozen in equal shock (though hers left her immobile and speechless). But the immense blush stayed with her.

Rose giggled at the sight while Al muttered under his breath about how hopeless both were.

The Lior girl walked over to the petrified mechanic and pulled her to the door by her shoulders, Al offering to help by leading her away by the feet. "There, there Winry. Let's get you a nice, warm tea to bring you back."

Before Al closed the door, he stuck his head back in to yell out one last thing to the man behind the bathroom door. "Hey, Ed! Don't forget to clean up and meet us downstairs in the lounge. And don't spend too long thinking about Winry, you hear?"

"Shut up, Al!" came a muffled yell behind the door. He sounded angry, with a hint of stutter in his voice. Al, on the other hand, couldn't help but laugh at his outburst. The guy was making a big deal out of something very much obvious, for crying out loud. The sooner he decided to let everyone in on this 'secret' of his, the better it'll be for the flustered pair. Until then, despite the obvious frustration it has caused for everyone, he'll take pleasure in teasing them about it, especially Ed because of the reaction he gets out of it.

When Ed was sure everyone left the room, he let out a big sigh of relief. He slid down the door and allowed himself a little laugh after the scene he made from Rose's comment. And it was only after her comment that he took notice of the close proximity he and his friend were in. His face flushed a brighter red when he thought of how her warm breath hit his lips and cheek, causing goose bumps to run down his arms and have the hair on the back of his head standing straight up. Or the way her cheeks were tainted in the slightest of pink, eyes slanted, blue orbs glazed over in an emotion he couldn't distinguish. He wanted to run the back of his fingers against the soft peach skin and take a strand of golden blonde hair between his finger tips and determine if they were as soft as they looked.

'_Ugh! I gotta stop thinking about her like that or else I'll end up with a major nosebleed in the next two seconds.'_ He felt a warm substance leaking from his right nostril. Bringing his index finger up to investigate, he pulled it away to see a tinge of red on the pad of his finger. _'On second thought, make it one.'_ He wiped the little bit of red sprinkle on his pants, irritated with himself._ 'Ugh. Stupid Winry and her stupid cute…'_

Grumbling, he lifted himself off the tiled floor and heading towards the sink to wash his face. He turned the latch and felt cold liquid running down his hands under the faucet. Even after splashing water on his face, he noticed that his cheeks still retained its pinkish hue. He gave his reflection a defeated sigh. A quick flip of the pocket watch's lid told him that it was 10:30.

'_I still have time for a quick shower.'_ he thought with a hint of humor. It had been a while since he last had a shower. And after the misunderstanding he went through yesterday and today, he felt he deserved a nice, warm shower to calm the nerves. As he was raising his arms to pull the white long sleeved shirt over his head, a jolt of pain ran from his shoulders to his arms. He pulled both arms down to ease the tension before proceeding to do it again. The pain was still there, but it didn't deter him from discarding the material off his body. Once free of the cotton shirt, he swung his flesh arm around in a circular motion while pressing his automail hand on his shoulder.

'_Man, do I need a workout right about now. Hopefully Al will be up to some sparring when we're done with lunch. Because if this keeps up, I'm gonna be too cramped to open a door.'_

When he finished easing some of the tension on his flesh arm, he went to the mirror again to pull his hair band off. But it was during that time that he caught something from the corner of his eye.

Above his flesh shoulder near his neck and running to the opposite side, he saw four faint red marks. He ran his automail hand across the offending marks, taking note of their shape. It took him a couple of seconds to formulate a possible answer. But that was all it took. His ember eyes dilated in the expanse of white when he figured out exactly what they were.

They were finger prints.

* * *

After successfully shaking Winry from her downcast fiasco, the trio decided to chat in the lobby area until Ed arrived. Rose and Al sat on the red sofa while Winry sat on a red cushion chair adjacent to them. There, they animatedly talked about all sorts of things. There weren't many people hanging around in the lobby at the time. So it was fairly peaceful and quiet. Al and Rose were well absorbed in their discussion to notice anything going on around them.

Winry, on the other hand, sat quietly in her seat as she listened to her friends' rambling on about kittens and the many quirks to them. The cup of lemonade was loose in her hands as she held it against her lap. She would listen in and, occasionally, put in her two cents on the matter. But for the most part, her focus remained on the stairway leading to the second floor. And despite the smile on her face, she was very much nervous on the inside.

'_Aaah. What have I done? I went into complete creepy/freaky staring mode without so much as considering what was running through his mind. Now he's probably thinking that I'm some kind of weirdo or something for staring at him for so long.'_ She grinded her teeth as she thought further on the subject. _'Why couldn't I have just told him that I was worried without leading him on to my stupid girly crush on him? Sigh. Besides, it's not like I'm anything special to him other than his trusty mechanic and childhood best friend. If he were to find out that I love him, oh forget it. The very essence of our friendship would crumble quicker than I can say sorry.'_

She thought back to all the times when Nellie, Mustang or anyone else they knew would tease them about their supposed 'relationship' and how Ed would go on a ranting spree about how she was nothing more than his mechanic or friend. She'd be lying if she said it didn't hurt. Even when they were younger, she felt a sort of special connection between her and the elder Elric. But at the time, she didn't know what those feelings of warmth or hurt meant. All she knew was that she would feel funny when around him and blamed it on whatever it is she ate that day. But after being saved by him on that fateful day she met Scar face-to-face, she knew those feelings she had long since denied were her growing affections for him. But she simply never had the courage to tell him straight up.

'_Besides that,'_ she thought grimly. _'I'm nothing more than his mechanic.'_ Her eyes shook with emotion as she continued eyeing the stairway.

During her inward musings concerning the man upstairs, she felt cool fingers tap lightly on her hand and a presence situated on the table beside her. She turned to see Rose's Amethyst eyes looking at her own with concern etched in them. Al had also turned her way from where he was sitting.

"Is everything alright?"

"Huh? Why would you ask that?" The fake smile was still plastered on her face. Though, she really was caught off by the question.

"Well…" She lightly tapped her index finger on Winry's knuckles. "Because your grip is tight enough to shatter the glass in your hand. And if you squeeze anymore, your knuckles will permanently stay white." she said with laughter in her voice.

Winry, when she noticed this, eased her grip on the cup, opting to set it on the coffee table in front of her instead. The forced smile upon her face started to hurt at her jaw, but she held onto it nonetheless.

"I'm fine, Rose. Honestly."

"You sure about that?" Winry could swear Rose was probing her with just her eyes alone. Al hadn't said a word the whole time during the confrontation, but she could only assume he was just as concerned as the girl before him. She cast a sideways glance towards the staircase before reverting her attention back to her friend.

"Yes. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go use the bathroom while slowpoke up there is taking his sweet time getting down here. So I'll see you two in a jiff." She ascended the steps, heaving a sigh a relief after escaping the awkward situation.

'_I have REALLY got to stop doing that. This makes it, what, the second time that I've been caught worrying over that idiot in front of them? Come on, Winry. Get a grip on yourself already.'_

She pulled at her cheeks roughly, trying to rid herself of the flustering feelings invading her mind. It served as a good distraction, though, because her mind suddenly became more worried over the stinging pain on her face. She walked towards her hotel room and opened the door with the spare key in her pocket. When she walked inside, she made a left to the bathroom to rinse off her face. It was a good way to feel refreshed from embarrassing oneself amongst company, especially if one of the people there happens to be the brother of the man you're crushing on.

She turned the faucet on and proceeded to splash cold water on her face. The icy chill felt refreshing on her skin, some trailing down her arms each time she scooped some in her hands. This brought a wide smile to her face. She continued splashing the liquid on her face before shutting the water off. She pulled a towel from the rack on the wall and wiped the cottony fabric across her face.

"Ah. Now this feels good." came her muffled voice through the towel.

**Does it, now?**

"Ah!" Winry jumped back, slamming roughly onto the wall behind her, when she heard a woman's voice whisper into her ear. She looked around frantically for the owner of the voice, only to see no one in the bathroom with her. Her eyes kept reverting to all corners of the small room just in case.

"W-what the heck was that?"

**There's no reason to be frightened, little girl.**

She pushed herself closer onto the wall, swiping the comb from the counter and holding it out in front of her defensively. "W-who's there?" she stuttered out, losing control of her nerves from the unknown presence that was talking to her. Her eyes landed on the closed curtains of the shower, a fear coursing through her veins and paralyzing her on the spot. She stayed rooted in her place as she called out to the voice again. "I'm warning you. Show yourself now or else I'll hurt you badly."

**Hahaha. You really think you're capable of hurting me? Please. If you feel so sure about it, why don't you come closer and find out for yourself.**

Winry tightly gripped the handle of the comb, a slight irritation gnawing at her from the sarcastic tone of this person's voice. She mentally contemplated the situation at hand and whether or not she should take those small steps to the curtain. And while her intuition told her that it would be dangerous to approach this person head-on, her rational side was aware of the fact that getting out of the room meant passing by the shower and who ever was standing right behind it ready to harm her upon close contact. She gulped down the lump rising in her throat and, with a firm but shaky resolve, made careful steps towards the shower. Her sweat glands were working full force with each squeak of the tiled floor, eliciting rounds upon rounds of the salty liquid to roll down her face.

**Are you scared?**

She chose to ignore the humorous question, focusing on the task at hand. _'There's no way I'm going to let this person get the best of me. I'll show her exactly what it means to underestimate a Rockbell after I get my hands her.'_

**Funny, cuz I can practically smell the fear reeking off of you.**

She stilled for a second, shocked that this person knew what she was thinking. Winry shook the thought away and continued her trek of doom.

**It's not a bad thing to admit fear, you know. It actually makes things more interesting.**

The comb trembled in her hands. But she was determined to wipe the smirk she presumed was on this person's face.

**You know what's also interesting? The fact that you were lying through those pretty pearly whites of yours when you told those boys that you found Ed drowning in the pool as you casually passed by the area.**

'_W-what is she talking about?' _she thought with a renewed sense of fear. She was only a couple of steps away at this point.

**You sure fooled them easily. All you had to do was bat your eyes and give the boys an irresistible smile to convince those chumps otherwise. Very clever of you, if I may say so myself.**

She stood before the curtains with many questions running through the blonde's head, mostly concerning the person's previous statement. A single hand lifted slowly towards the edge of the curtain, but fear kept it inches from reaching its course destination.

**Did you enjoy seeing the fright swirling in his golden eyes? Or when he cried out to you and wondered why his friend was trying to hurt him, did you take pleasure in how he pathetically attempted to fight you off?**

Shaky fingers clasped around the plastic material. Her resolve was quickly disintegrating within her as she tried ignoring the comments made to her.

**Was it just as fun for you as it was for me?**

She quickly pulled the curtains aside and blindly swung forward. A loud bang resonated all along the walls. But instead of it smacking a person's head, the comb collided with the tiled wall. Her eyes dilated considerably, confused to seeing no one.

**Do you get it now?**

Chills ran down her spine when she felt cold breath hit her ear. Her own breath hitched in her throat, scared to the bone by all the strangeness of this situation. An image of Ed struggling to push her hands away while being submerged in the pool filtered her mind. Than another image of him floating to the bottom and her walking away came next. She saw herself smiling evilly at the unconscious man and walking inside, only to come to her conscious and casually walk outside, with the intent of looking for the missing alchemist, only to see Ed drowning in the pool. She frantically pulled him from the water and rushed inside to inform Al after seeing him at the foot of the stairs.

She gasped loudly, earning a wicked snicker from the voice behind her. She was unsure of what to believe at this point, Ed's desperate pleas ringing crystal clear in her mind.

**You can't fight what's happening to you, Winry. Just accept your fate quietly and I'll assure you that the process will be less painful this way. **

She visibly shuttered again when she felt cold breath hitting her cheek and earlobe. Winry didn't bother to conceal the fright that took control of her emotions at that time, mind drifting to a blank.

**Oh, and remember this well…**

The bathroom door swung open and Rose came marching in with a look of irritation marring her features.

"Winry! What in the world were you doing in here that had to take thirty freakin' minutes to finish?" Rose yanked the petrified girl out of the bathroom and led her down the hall to the stairs, grumbling all the while. "Seriously! Everyone was already getting worried about you."

Winry absently listened to the girl pulling her on, the unknown person's words running through her head in echoes of sadistic humor.

_Your days of freedom are coming to an end. So enjoy it while you still can. Because no matter where you run off to, it'll only be a matter of time until you're found again._

_

* * *

_

**A/N:** …Is it just me or did that give some of you the heeby geebies? And by this point, a lot of you are more confused than ever before. But rest assured, all will be explained in due time. Until then, I'll continue to mess with your heads some more and leave you coming back for more.

Now go do me a service and let me know how I did. Kay?


	9. Discomfort

**A/N:** It's summer vacation and it's boiling like hell outside. I'm going nuts over this weather fiasco and I have half a mind to just call a shaman and have him do the rain dance. And I would too, if I knew anyone who did something like that. But I digress (somewhat). For those of you who enjoy my long rants, I'm sorry that I don't have anything interesting to talk about. Life has been pretty boring and uneventful since Ursula's last visit. All that's happened as of late is that I've been frying like a potato day in and day out an working constantly, along with going to school. Can you believe I've even contemplated cutting my long hair short? Anyone that knows me well knows that my long hair is the thing I value most on my body.

Anyways, I managed to get some free time. So I'm using it to the fullest by squeezing in a chapter somewhere in between my schedule. This is actually a filler chapter for what happened with Ed and everyone else while Winry was experiencing her own fright in the bathroom. Sorry also if this chapter is shorter than the others. But like I said, this is a filler chapter that covers a short span of time on the same day as the previous one. But for those of you who were curious as to what went on with the others, than this is a chapter you may want to read. I'm definitely going to work on the next one. I've just been kind of busy and I figured that this will do till then. So what do you guys say? Do you forgive me? 0.0

-Bows head in shame- Well, I can only hope so. But anyways, I'll leave you guys alone now and let you read the next chapter. So do enjoy.

*And on a side note, today is my birthday! Yay! I'm officially 21 years old. ^w^

"regular dialogue"

"_dream talk"_

'_mental thought'_

_

* * *

_

**Chapter 9: Discomfort**

Even though he saw it with his own eyes, his mind had yet to comprehend what was before him. It was the most puzzling and horrifying thing he's seen since his first confrontation with the Truth (and that was truly bizarre beyond all compare). Even the indentations on his skin had yet to convince him of anything.

He ran his index and middle finger across them some more, tracing along the circular lines and comparing his finger size against it. They were smaller than his own, but spoke volumes of the person who inflicted them. And it brought chills to his spine whenever such a thought came about.

Ed continued running his fingers around the marks, studying the tiny red spots like they were the most intriguing thing on the planet. Since his first encounter with them, he's done nothing but stand in front of the mirror and finger the incriminating wounds. The occasional flashback from the night before would pop into his mind and he'd lose focus of the task at hand. Each one that passed by would convince him a little bit more. But it wasn't enough to just assess the situation. He needed bigger proof than what he's been looking at for the past forty minutes. He needed to know from Winry herself that what he was seeing was actually true and not another figment of his already disillusioned imagination.

He thinks back to the wide smile she had on her face when she walked into his room that morning. She looked really happy to have seen him awake as she carried in his tray of food, an extra bounce evident in her steps. That same smile carried on till their interruption by Rose, who was getting a real kick out of teasing them. But all through that morning, she looked most innocent and genuinely concerned for his well being.

'_So how could someone who worried so much about me having a small fever even think about hurting me? More or less, attempt to drown me in a pool. Ugh! None of this makes any sense at all. There's just no plausible reasoning to explain what even went on that night.'_ he thought to himself while fingering the holes some more.

Perspiration gathered at his back and face, the steam from the running water, despite it having been shut off, filtered around the tiny bathroom and caused his body to heat up. The liquid trails raced down his spine and pooled around the hem of his shorts, creating moist spots on the light blue fabric. But this didn't faze the alchemist in the least.

He just looked straight into the mirror and at the marks that decorated his shoulder. It was still hard to believe, even now after he's spent almost an eternity inspecting.

He heard loud clanking from the other end of the door, indicating that Al had walked in to check up on his brother. He stood still, keeping his ears open to all the sounds that resounded in the room. Two knocks sounded off from the bathroom door and his younger brother's voice chimed in through the mahogany wood.

"Brother? Is everything alright in there?"

He quickly slipped a black sleeved shirt over his torso and went to open the door. He regarded him with a sheepish grin, so as not to give it away that he'd been worried not long before. It didn't feel right to suddenly accuse Winry of something and tell Al about it if he wasn't 100% sure of it himself. So he kept quiet about the matter, pushing it to the far regions of his mind for later investigating.

"Don't worry, Al. Everything is just fine."

Al began fidgeting with his metal fingers, shuffling feet on the red carpet in a habit of unease. "I know. It's just that… you've been gone for a while and I wasn't sure if anything happened to you while we were downstairs."

Nostalgia blossomed on his face at the armors words. Ed knew exactly where Al was going with this, being all too well reminded of the incident with Winry at the pool in comparison to the version Al was told. So it was understandable that he'd be worried to leave him alone for longer than needed. He learned that harsh fact early on in his adolescence when he attempted human transmutation all those years ago, resulting in the loss of his limbs and Al, who suffered the worst consequence, deprived of his body. It was a touchy subject for both brothers so he did all he could not to put his brother through such worry ever again.

But with this most recent incident, it was becoming a struggle to avoid doing so. And it made him even guiltier to keep such knowledge from his dear sibling, who he trusted his life and personal secrets with.

He placed a comforting hand on his arm, even though he knew it was pointless due to his inability to feel. But it helped to assure the older brother that, while Al was a suit of armor, he was still the same little brother from before and was a living, breathing person despite his current situation. And like any other living being, he deserved the same amount of respect and human comfort. And as crazy as it sounded, he was able to 'feel' the small part of Al's soul through the metal casing that gave him what he considered to be his life energy. It gave him his own sense of comfort in knowing that.

"And what exactly do you take me for? You, of all people, should know that it takes more that a little fever to take down the almighty Fullmetal Alchemist." he claimed with dignified pride, jamming a thumb towards his chest and looking towards the ceiling as though priding himself in the same manner as that of a king on top his castle. This stirred laughter from the younger Elric, elevating Ed's relief to hear his cheerful voice drown out the worry he poured into the room some time before.

Al's laughter subsided to small giggles, a wobbly finger pointing in Ed's direction. "Haha. Good one, Brother. I almost took you seriously there for a second."

A slightly irritated expression came onto his features, hands fisted on either side of his hips. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

The younger brother waited till he couldn't feel anymore onslaughts of bubbly laughter before he could continue. "It just means you should think of another way to go about with your macho like characteristic before pulling out the princely look again. I swear, if Ling were to have seen this, he would have had quite the laugh."

Ed turned to the sink, picking up his hair band from the counter, and proceeded to tie his hair back in a ponytail, all the while grumbling to his brother through his reflection in the mirror.

"Oh, keep laughing away." He replied sarcastically. "But for your information, I, too, am awesome. You just don't see it."

"Yeah. Sure Brother. Whatever you say."

The blond turned fierce eyes in Al's direction, pointing at his loin cloth with his automail hand. "You're one to talk. This is coming from a guy who thinks wearing a loin cloth is cool. Maybe I should go about burning it or transmuting it with flowers and rubber ducky prints."

A jolt of fear trembled through the boy's armor as he placed his protective hands across the white fabric. "No! Please, Brother. Not the loin cloth. It's the only form of modesty I have."

This brought about an evil smirk on his face when he looked at his paranoid brother. "Oh, really? Maybe you should of thought of that before you insulted my capabilities as an alchemist."

Al crawled his way to Ed, a pleading look on his face and trickles of tears flaying out from the miniscule orbs. "I'm sorry, Brother. I really am. So please don't do this to me. I'm begging you!" He clasped his hands together in front of his face, bowing his head on them and sobbing crocodile tears that flew all over the place. And the act almost got Ed to stop his relentless teasing.

Almost.

"Hm. Now what color should I dye it? Lets see…how about green. That IS your favorite color, right Al?" he leaned towards his brother as he said this, enjoying every single minute of it. _'Serves him right for doubting me. And besides, it's getting his mind off the worry he had over me. Now he'll just be cautious and pissed. Nothing to worry about there.'_

Did he mention that he got a thrill out of it?

"Or, how about I transmute the words 'I love Rose' on them? Now wouldn't that just be the icing on the cake?"

This certainly caught Al's attention, cheeks powdered with blush and, if possible, eyes widened more in horror as he swiftly whipped his head upward to stare into Ed's amused face.

"H-how did you know about t-THAT?"

"Oh, puh-leeze! I'm pretty sure everyone knows by now about your little crush on her. You make it too obvious not to notice."

The metal boy grabbed a hold of his brother's legs and shook them with urgency, with that same pleading look on his face. This just caused the alchemist to snicker some more at his pathetic attempts to appease him.

"No! Don't you tell her anything! If you do, it could ruin any chances I have with her as a friend. So please don't tell her!"

He straightened up and brought a hand to his chin in mock thought. "Hmm…I don't know, Al. I'm not sure I follow."

"W-what?"

"I think Rose has a right to know, don't you think? It'd be a shame if you deprived her of such knowledge. Especially since it pertains to her and all. I probably need more time to think on it before I can reconsider your request, little brother."

This got the armored brother thinking, who was over the initial shock of hearing those words directed at him.

Ed was too preoccupied with feigning concern to notice the mischievous glint in Al's eyes. Suddenly, the younger brother didn't feel threatened anymore by what the alchemist said.

"If you did that, then I wouldn't have any choice but to tell Winry about your crush on her."

And the tables were turned.

Ed stopped rubbing his chin when he heard those words leave the armor's lips. He turned a panic filled face at Al, who was silently gloating over his advantage on Ed.

"D-don't you turn this on me! And besides, Winry has got nothing to do with what we're talking about!"

Al's white orbs slanted with amusement at the outburst. "Oh, but she does. Because we're in the same boat, after all. And it'd only be fair to inform her of your crush if you're willing to do the same with me."

"…!"

"That's what you'd call Equivalent Exchange. Right, Brother?"

He clenched his hands tightly, grabbing bits of the pant fabric between his fierce grip in the process, while giving the boy on the floor the stink eye. "Why you little…" There were about a million words that crossed his mind, all of which referred to calling him something that would have cost him a weeks worth of soap washing to the tongue by the mechanic downstairs.

"Does this mean we're even now?" the armor asked. Ed caught notice of the humor playing behind his words, mocking him in turn for pulling the same stunt on him. And it really pissed him off too.

He, begrudgingly, walked to the door of the bathroom, muttering to a grinning Al behind him, "Fine! I won't tell Rose about your stupid affections towards her. And in return, you keep that big mouth of yours shut about my mine. Got it?"

"Crystal clear." There was that smug attitude again that irked Ed to no ends.

"Tch!" He stormed out of the room, a smug Al hot on his tail as he recounted in his head the words that earned him victory (and safety of his secret crush). He noticed, however, that Ed had been really mad about it, considering that the blond was practically flying down the stairs as he took them two at a time.

They walked into the lobby, seeing an impatient looking Rose tapping away at the coffee table while holding a magazine open on her lap. She looked irritated by something, causing the younger Elric to do a double take from the foreign look on her face (Rose was all about smiles, not scowls).

Al and Ed walked further ahead to signal the Lior girl of their arrival. She stopped drumming her finger on the mahogany surface when she heard the clanking of metal nearby. She lifted her eyes from the perfume ad to regard the brothers as they took a seat on the unoccupied sofa, scowl still set in place.

Not wanting to risk being on the receiving end of her spontaneous anger, he decided the best way to go about this was to ask as gently as possible. But Ed interjected with his own comment, in his usual Ed fashion.

"So what's got you pissed all of a sudden?"

Al had to mentally slap his hand against the metal of his forehead when he heard those words leave his mouth. Did he not know the proper way of approaching these situations? Maybe this is why he and Winry fought a lot.

Rose placed the magazine on the table, eyes narrowing towards the alchemist in front of her. "For your information…" And here comes the fury behind the words. "I don't need your sassy attitude when asking about my current mood. And secondly, I'm 'pissed' because Winry has been taking an awful long time to get down from her bathroom break. We were supposed to be out and having fun and looking around the town a long time ago, not sitting here in the lobby while you and Winry take your sweet time getting ready doing who knows what. Does THAT answer your question?"

"To an extent, yes. But why the fuss over shopping? You make it sound like it's such a big deal."

She looked pointedly at him as she spoke again. "Look: Winry's been through a tough time recently with the murder of her grandmother and all. And I just don't like the idea that she's been cooped up inside instead of doing things to get her mind off the matter."

"It's only been a day. She'll live."

"I'm just looking out for her best interests."

"And shopping is going to remedy things?"

"That's not my point." she said in an exasperated voice. Her gaze drooped to a strand of brown hair twirled around her finger, coiling and uncoiling it absentmindedly. Al could make out a bit of remorse that surfaced in her irises as she paused to gather her thoughts, probably those that held more significance to her than what she led on.

"I'm just worried about her…mental state is all."

"Excuse me?" Ed inquired, disbelieving look on his face when he asked.

"All I'm saying is that I've also experienced the loss of family and a loved one. I know the thoughts that come to mind when one is alone and has nothing to do but think about those deaths."

It took a couple of seconds for the words to sink in. And when they did, his automail hand gripped tightly on the armrest and his face contorted in anger while Al's opaque orbs widened in realization.

"Are you saying…she'd resort to self-destruction as a means of coping with her grandmother's death?" Ed honestly didn't like where the conversation was going, especially when it concerned Winry and possible (or impossible, in Ed's mind) suicidal thoughts. And to be very frank, he didn't take kindly to anyone thinking of Winry like that.

"But Winry would never-!"

"And you mean to tell me that she's just going to start cutting her wrists and such over one death?" Ed, cutting Al's surprised rant short, put as much venom into his words, golden orbs narrowed dangerously low as a shadow overtook the top of his face. He kept clenching the armrest with much vigor and never once did he lose contact with the girl sitting before him.

Even Rose felt intimidated under his harsh gaze. She wanted to shrink into the chair, far from his murderous gaze. "I-I'm just saying that-"

"No." Ed held up his index finger as a gesture to silence her, scowl on his face still. "Don't try to explain how any of this bullshit makes sense because it doesn't. I've known Winry longer than you have and I can honestly say that she isn't the type of girl who'd ever think that suicide or self-mutilation solves any of her problems. And even though Winry and Al think very nicely of you, I wouldn't hesitate to drop you off here, by yourself, if you ever make anymore accusations like this again. Got it?"

Rose felt goose bumps run up her arms and her breath constrict in her throat as she cowered under his sharp, ember eyes.

Al sensed her discomfort and went over to her side to keep her from crying on the spot. He took one of her hands and rubbed softly on it, turning to his brother with what he could muster as pleading eyes. "Brother…Rose didn't mean it in a bad way. Maybe we're just over-reacting this. And her concern is in the right place, so no harm done."

Ed kept a hard stare at the two before ducking his head down and exercising his breathing techniques. He breathed hard through his nostrils, pinched hard on the bridge of his nose and exhaled loudly. He did this a couple more times before lifting his head back up and looking at them with softer eyes this time.

"Sorry."

Rose loosened up when she heard the sincerity in his voice and offered her own apology. "I'm sorry too. I should have known better than to say insensitive things like that."

"No, it's not your fault. It's just that I- talk about Winry and suicide doesn't sit well with me. And I tend to over-react when I know I shouldn't. So sorry."

"I think all this stuff with Winry has managed to make you more mellow, Brother."

"N-N-N-NO!" He blushed profusely as he shouted this.

"Oh, come on. Don't hide it from us now." Al taunted the blushing teen.

"Al!"

"And besides, Rose already knows."

"WHAT?"

"We shouldn't tease him anymore. All is well and we should be happy for that."

The armored teen turned to the girl below him and gave a nod. "You're right."

Ed crossed his arms in front of his chest and huffed in his seat, blush still in place. Al couldn't help but let a little giggle slip when he saw him. Ed glared back when he heard him.

Rose picked up a magazine, rolled it up and playfully hit Al upside the head with it. "Al…" she said in mock threat.

Al held his arms up in surrender, humor in his voice. "Sorry, sorry. I learned my lesson now."

"Good."

Ed turned his head towards the stairs, curious look on his face. Al noticed this too.

"Brother?"

"Winry sure has been gone a while, hasn't she?"

"She said she needed the bathroom and would be gone for only a couple of minutes. But that was eighteen minutes ago."

"Oh…well, no problem. Maybe she just needs to take care of some girl things, right? We'll give her a couple of more minutes to finish up." Al said to the group.

"Yup."

"Alright…"

Al saw a bit of worry in his brother's eyes as he returned his gaze to the staircase. _'Those two don't realize how much alike they are to one another. Same temper, same obsessive nature, same fighting spirit…and same amount of care they have towards each other. I just hope they realize how right they are together sooner than later.'_ Rose and Al returned to their previous conversation about funny animal stories and Ed sat in his seat, looking at the staircase in hopes of seeing a head of blonde hair and striking blue eyes.

Twenty five minutes passed and the conversation still went on. But every once in a while, a head would turn to the stairs, eyes curious and worried, before going back to what they were doing. People continued to walk through the doors to check in and conversations from others would carry on to fill the void of silence that sometimes fell on the group who waited for their friend.

Twenty six minutes passed and Ed's automail leg could be heard thumping on the floor in a nervous manner, eyes never peeling from the stairs. It became obvious that the other two friends were losing interest in their conversation. Sure they talked, but not with as much vigor as before.

Twenty seven minutes passed and Ed got up from his seat to grab a magazine to occupy his ever growing, worried mind. He walked to a book shelf near the entrance doors and grabbed a magazine at random. He plopped himself in his seat and began flipping through the pages, not the least bit interested in the daily gossip or ads for miscellaneous products on sale. Rose quietly sipped her drink and Al fidgeted with his fingers on his lap.

Twenty eight minutes passed and Ed chucked the flimsy magazine on the coffee table. He let out a small huff and peered at the stairs, leg still thumping on the carpet floor. Al decided to count the number of people that walked through the doors. Rose picked up the magazine she discarded earlier and flipped through the pages to where she last left off at.

Twenty nine minutes passed and the group was getting more anxious. Ed thumped his leg faster, waiting for the mechanic to descend the stairs any minute now. By now, Rose's eyes fixated on the center of the magazine- she didn't appear to be reading anything anymore. Al counted fifteen people that checked in and three that left to look for some place cheaper.

Thirty minutes passed and no one couldn't take it anymore. Al was ready to lift himself from his seat, Ed already had his hands on either armrest to fly up from the sofa chair and race up the stairs, but Rose beat them to the punch and rose from her spot with irritation and worry on her face. She threw the magazine on the table and marched up the stairs without another word to the boys. They thought about following her before they saw her turn to them and send them a glare that said 'Don't follow or else'. They obliged and sat there as they waited for Rose to return with news of Winry's long absence.

A full minute passed before they heard an angry Rose trudging down the stairs with Winry in tow. What caught them by surprise, however, was the paleness in the blonde's face. She looked as though she'd seen a ghost, which is rare because they're used to seeing the tough-as-nails, but bit of a crybaby, persona that represented Winry. Rose led the girl outside, muttering something about going on a well needed shopping spree, and the boys followed soon after.

Ed kept stealing glances at Winry from behind. She loosened up a little when they walked down the street. But her eyes held that same look of fright in them.

And this worried Ed a great deal.

* * *

**A/N:** I hope that by the end of this, some of you didn't mind the filler chapter. Anyways, like I promised, I'm going to work on the next chapter and possible others that came to mind. I was thinking of publishing a Code Geass fic, seeing as I haven't and it's been bugging me for a while since the second chapter of my Tales of Symphonia 2 fic. So I'll see how that goes. Until then, have fun and wear lots of sun screen. Either that, or bring an umbrella where ever you go because now it's starting to rain a lot. Thank you God!

Lol. Anyways, toodles!


	10. Amidst Turmoil

**A/N****:** Hey again my fellow readers. Let me start by saying that I'm deeply sorry for putting you guys through the enormous wait. Life, for me, has suddenly got more complicated (if that was possible). I have my first two exams and a lab experiment coming in a couple of days. And just when I thought I didn't have enough to worry about as it was, I had to go and dislocate my damn knee! Grr! Now I have to suffer through pain and planning how I'm going to get around campus in my current position. Don't even get me started on the pain and utter look of shock I had on my face when I saw my knee trying to make a 360 around my leg, but only made it to the side (like THAT was any better). So I've been bed-ridden and changing my school schedule to accommodate my recent injury. So updates may lag on for a little longer if possible. Sorry again for all the drama and constant excuses. But I haven't given up on any of my stories yet, that you can be assured of. But enough of my complaining. Go ahead and read this chapter to your heart's desire. And thanks to all those that reviewed. I get so giddy just looking at the number of reviews from this story.

"regular dialogue"

'_mental thought'_

"**previously said dialogue"**

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* * *

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**Chapter 10: Amidst Turmoil**

The need to be on constant alert was something that never occurred to her. To say the very least, she's always been comfortable walking through the crowds of people and window shopping to her heart's desire (especially since those times were spent with the Elric brothers, and one in particular had a boat load of money that was just sitting in a box untouched…). Sure she knew of the dangers of murderers and rapist that lurked in shady corners of the streets, waiting for an innocent bystander to walk their way. And sure she knew that some of those dangerous people happened to know alchemy, a skill that could easily overpower her own at wielding a hefty wrench. But she'd always been confident that no harm could come to her as long as she had her boys around to keep her safe ( "They're alchemists. They can take care of things." She tells herself).

But now…she wasn't so sure.

With her grandmother killed in cold blood, a murderer that's out to kill her also, memories of an incident she didn't know of till recently and an unknown force keeping tabs on her at all times, her usually calm and collected nerves (unless a certain Elric decided to push her buttons) were on an all-time high. Her blue eyes quickly scanned all sides, buildings and people. She didn't trust herself to immerse in the fun chatter between Rose and Al (who've been getting along really great, in her opinion). Ed, as per usual, lagged behind and grumbled about how much he was going to be paying this time around. She didn't have the usual fire in her to reprimand him for his rude muttering, and that was something she didn't let go easily.

But like she's told herself many times since their outing, she didn't feel the same; she became more vulnerable. And she hated that.

A cold wind blew through her hair and prickled her skin. It reminded her of the disembodied voice from the bathroom, acting up her nerves again as she gets flashbacks of the incident. She purposely walked slower until she was in step with Ed and ignored the look of concern that crossed his features. She merely looked to the side, hands in her pockets, and kept a look out for anything suspicious. Standing next to Ed…it was her way of keeping safe.

Ed wanted to ask the girl what had been plaguing her thoughts since she was dragged downstairs, but then chose to stay silent when he saw her looking the opposite way. She didn't seem in the mood to talk and he was still at a loss for words of how to go about asking her without coming across as insensitive (for all he knew, it could of had something to do with her recent loss and threats to her own life).

And besides, there were other things he still wanted to question her about. Like about the pool incident and the drastic change in behavior. The thought still made his blood run cold and his feelings disturbed. The memory was surreal, yet all too real for him. He didn't want to think it of her. She was his friend and the girl that meant the world to him. When you looked past her temper and knack for throwing wrenches at random times, all you'd see was this girl who was lonely and innocent to a life as dangerous as his. She loved whole-heartedly and went to the extremes to help those in need. She was full of life and a shoulder to lean on in dire times. She was the brothers' waiting home…his waiting home. She wasn't capable of hurting anyone, especially after going through her share of hurt.

But the more he thought of those cruel eyes staring him down and that wicked grin tainting his usual picture of Winry, the more he wanted to get answers out of her…and fast. It would only be a matter of time before his big mouth let loose the secrets he desperately tried to keep to himself. And he didn't want to challenge their friendship nor pit his brother's feelings of distrust against her because he assumed something, regardless if he was right or wrong. If he was going to ask her, he was gonna have to do it when they were alone and away from any eavesdroppers. In case, and just in case, he was right, he didn't want others to get involved in the matter that only concerned the two. He took a side-glance at the girl, unable to determine her mood from the side, and turned his attention to the shops up ahead with a grim thought in mind.

'_I'm gonna lose a shit load of money today.'_ A few blocks away, to his dismay, was a small clothing boutique. Flashy clothing was advertised behind the large window and a large pink sign that read 'Open' hung on the wine colored wooden door. The words 'Beauty First' were painted in pink and written in cursive at the top. He saw a couple of girls, dressed to impress, walk out of the store in frilly dresses and holding small, but exquisite, handbags. The clothes and handbags looked like they cost plenty, enough to possibly feed a large group of people for two days.

He audibly gulped. _'This just isn't my day. Why couldn't we have just stayed at the hotel and talked or something? Damn Rose and her twisted logic!'_

"Yay! We're almost there!" an exuberant Rose squealed out, hands clasped together in joy and the stars in her eyes proving so.

It sickened Ed to no ends, hearing her talk so animatedly about it. _'What the hell do girls see in wasting their money at some clothes shop anyway? Isn't it just clothes?'_

Rose turned around and latched on to one of Winry's arms, tugging her forward. "Enough of the sulking. Now it's time to have some fun! Come on!"

And off they went, Rose happily sprinting down the sidewalk and Winry being dragged from behind. Al looked on with amusement, while Ed was giving the store death glares. He stomped on, determined to give anyone hell if they decided to tick him off today.

"I know what you're thinking, Brother. But this is for Winry."

"Hmph!"

"This may even bring her spirits up."

"Oh yeah, Al. Because making me broke does the charm." he said sarcastically. "Say, why don't I just BUY them a clothing store? That way, they can go dress up in clothes whenever they want."

"Sigh…would you rather wait outside?"

"Damn straight."

"...Fine." he said, defeat in his voice.

They continued their trek towards the boutique, neither saying a word to one another (Ed was being a grump and best not provoked by further conversation). As they arrived at the store, Al held a hand out in hesitation. Ed turned his head up in annoyance, but at him. "Um, Brother…?

"Oh, yeah." His tone held anger, which was for sure. He fished through his coat pocket until he felt the item he needed. He pulled it out and roughly set it on the armor's outstretched hand. "There. That should be enough to hold them off. I'll be waiting outside if you need me." he said informatively.

"Ok." the armor replied, tucking the wallet under his loincloth for safe keeping. "It shouldn't take us very long."

Ed had to snort at that, some of his anger dissipitating. "Yeah right. With your girlfriend orchestrating the whole thing, I can beg to differ."

"Brother!" he whined, blushing a deep hue of red. He looked to see if Rose caught word of it, and to his fortune she didn't. Besides, they were at a good distance where they couldn't have possibly heard. Well...he hoped anyway.

Ed just waved a dismissing hand in front of him, getting a little humor from teasing his younger sibling. "I'm just kidding, Al. And don't worry your head off. I'll be waiting right here like I should." he told the armor, leaning against the side of the store with his arms crossed.

"Oh. Well ok?" He turned the knob and walked inside. A bell jingled right after, indicating that he got inside.

His eyes trailed to a certain meat shop in the distance. _'Hmm. Teacher should have returned by now.'_ He craned his body to the side, looking through the window to see the pink-headed girl dragging a helpless Winry to the dressing rooms, Al scurrying behind with a couple of shirts and pants draped over his arms. It was a sight to see. They disappeared from his vision, so he turned his attention back to the meat shop ahead.

'_They should be fine by themselves.'_ He lifted himself from the stucco walls and made his way down the street, hands in pockets and indifference on his face.

* * *

"You should really try this on. It's cute!" the Lior girl practically gushed over the article of clothing in her hands.

"Um…Rose?"

"Heeeey." She drawled in a warning tone, hands posed against either side of her hips. "Don't you back out now."

"But I'm not feeling up for-."

"Nonsense! It's every girl's dream to take a day off and just shop for clothing."

"Yeah. But, I'm not the type to go crazy over it. A simple outfit is just fine with me."

Rose looked horrified as she choked out her next words. "Y-you've gotta be kidding me? You can't possibly mean to tell me that you'd settle for just about anything plain and simple?"

"Yes, Rose. I do." She pulled on her white tank top, ignoring the distasteful look Rose was giving her.

"But we haven't even gotten to the trendy casuals."

Winry averts her gaze to the large pile of clothing on the floor. _'You mean this wasn't it?'_ It made her head spin to think that the exuberant teen wasn't even close to done with making her try on clothes. _'I'm NEVER stepping foot in a clothing store with Rose ever again.' _She thought with finality.

"Sooo." The mechanic was brought out of her thoughts when Rose popped up in front of her, holding a yellow shirt with a sunflower pin under the v-neck line. "Lets see how this looks on you."

And she was sparkling those damn sparkles.

'_Oh god…'_

She backed away a little, nervously shifting her eyes to either side. She saw a rack of skirts to her left and began to inch towards them. "Y-you know what? I think I'll go and ch-ah!" She didn't get to finish her sentence before she was whisked away into the dressing room. Al heard a few whines of protest (Winry) and shuffling of feet, along with the sound of someone backing another into a wall roughly (most likely Rose. Only because of her fierce dedication for clothes).

He took a seat on a red, leather love seat and placed the outfits he was carrying on the armrest. They were barely fifteen minutes into shopping, yet the Lior girl managed to accumulate a large amount of clothing to dress all the girls in this store. And to think, she dressed the blonde in all of them in that short span of time. Rose hadn't even tried on any herself.

Excited murmur sounded from behind the closed doors and a single groan between the hyper chatter. It made him mentally grin from ear to ear (or in this case, head hole to head hole).

"**I'm just looking out for her best interests."**

Even after knowing her for a short amount of time, Rose was willing to go out of her way to help others. She's even put her hurt feelings aside to reach out to the girl, something that surprises the teen greatly. He never would have imagined that she'd let things go like that and move on. But maybe, that was just part of her nature- to push away grudges and look at the bright side of things.

He still doesn't know for sure if she got over the information, or if she's just really good at masking her emotions. But he'll take what he can see and find solace in that.

The dressing room door opens to reveal a disgruntled Winry, wearing the yellow shirt and white ruffled skirt, and Rose who was beaming in triumph from behind.

"What do you think of this ensemble?" she asks the armor teen.

He gives the fuming mechanic another once over, from the white ballet flats to the pearls hanging around her neck. "I think it looks good." he answers honestly.

Amethyst eyes widen in glee. "That's what I was thinking! We should definitely add this to the list of clothes to buy." She clasped her hands together, pleased from the result.

"Great." The other said flatly to herself. Winry's blue eyes metaphorically bore holes into Al's head, bordering on a dangerous dark blue. He could practically see the raging inferno behind them. "I'll remember this day, Alphonse. Mark my words." she said nicely to him. Way to nicely, in his opinion. Promises of later pain laced her words like woven thread. Those very implications had him shaking in fear as the girls strode past him, a pair of short shorts catching Rose's eyes…

* * *

"Hey, Mason. Hellooo. Mason?"

"Here in the back!" Mason called from inside the kitchen.

Ed stepped through the swinging door to the side of the counter and pulled the plastic tarp back to see Mason packaging a large slab of meat. He threw the knives in the soap water and pulled the plastic gloves off his hands, dumping them in the trash bin. He looked to the blonde with a wide smile.

"It's good to see you again, Ed. And conscious for that matter." he said, laughing it off.

A scowl crossed his features when he saw the butcher holding his stomach in mirth. "Yeah, yeah. You have your fun now."

"You gotta admit, it is hilarious."

"Har har." he said in a flat tone.

Mason's laughter quieted down some and he crossed his arms to his chest as he spoke. "I take it you're here to see Izumi."

"She's here, right?" he asked, getting over his initial reaction from the mocking.

"Yup. Just got back not too long ago."

"Is it ok if I have a little chat with? I promise it won't take too long." he assured.

"I wouldn't worry about that. Even though she don't show it much, she really does miss your company."

Ed stayed silent, reveling in the information with awe. He felt a particular closeness to the woman, despite the hurt she inflicted on him. Izumi, in simple terms, was like a mother figure to the brothers growing up. She taught them the works of alchemy, tended to their wounds after a good sparring (she always came in a winner and them lying on the ground, aching from all different places) and basically raised them till they were ready to return to Risembool.

She was a tough woman to deal with. But even Ed could admit she had her moments. And to hear the same thing from another person gave him greater pride to say he was trained by her.

"C'mon. She's in the living room with Sig." Mason pushed back another pair of swinging doors and led them through a hallway, a couple of pictures showcasing the woman and her burly husband. A single frame of the boys adored the middle of the wall. They made a right down the hall and came across the couple sitting on a couch, Izumi lovingly talking with Sig and pointing at a picture in a magazine she had on her lap.

Mason knocked a hand on the wall to his side, bringing their attention to them. Sig looked up with his usual expression and Izumi flicked her eyes to the blonde, curiosity written on her face.

"Look who came to drop by and see you, Izumi." Mason said in a cheerful tone.

"And what do I owe this visit?"

"I…it's a long story." Ed finished at a loss for words. He already felt the need to retract himself from the house and join the others at the shop. He cast his ember eyes to his feet.

Izumi could tell the boy had something important to talk about. His actions spoke it. She rose from the couch and headed towards the kitchen. "Why don't we talk about it over a beverage. You must be parched from your travel." she said over her shoulder.

"Oh, um yeah." he said when he was shaken from his thoughts. The others followed suit as Izumi pulled out a pitcher of lemonade from the refrigerator. She gathered four glasses from the cabinet and set each in front of the occupants at the table. When she got done pouring the lemonade for everyone, she took her seat beside her husband and intertwined her hands together on the table. Her face turned firm and coal eyes narrowed slightly.

"Ok. So what is it you wanted to talk about?"

* * *

The trio pushed open the door and proceeded to walk out after waving farewell to the store clerk.

Al had several bags latched on either arm while the girls had none. Rose was animatedly talking with Winry (who looked exhausted from trying on so many clothes) from behind the suit of armor, who was trying to maneuver himself and the numerous shopping bags through the doorframe (and failing miserably).

"How much clothes did you buy, Rose?" Al asked, having a little difficulty getting one of the larger bags through.

Rose saw this and pushed the bag out. "It wasn't much, if it's the cost that you're worried about." she said innocently.

"That's not what I'm asking. Though, I'm sure Brother is going to have a stroke over it."

"Nah. He should know that his funding went to a good cause."

"I'm not so sure of that." the teen said hesitantly. He could already imagine Ed fussing over the receipt, his hair standing up at the ends and his face red from anger. It would be the 'Ling room service' incident all over again. _'Oh, boy…'_

"Yeah. But he-." She, along with the rest of the group, abruptly stopped when they noticed the side of the building empty. "Hey. Where's Ed? Didn't you say he was going to be waiting out here for us?"

"That's what he told me." The armored teen looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of him. "Maybe he went to check out the other stores."

"Probably." Winry said, looking around herself. She was a little nervous not having Ed around. But she swallowed the small lump in her throat, because she knew that she was safe in the company of her friends.

"Lets go check out the book store up ahead." Al pointed to a green painted building, several windows around it advertising specials on hard covers.

"Ok."

Winry decided to stay silent and walk close to the pair, keeping on alert once again. As they walked down the street, they noticed a large group of people gathered to the side. Apparently, a raffle event for a new car was going on.

"Oh, great. There had to be a large crowd on this side of the road, had there?" Rose said exasperated, propping one of her hands against her hip in annoyance.

Al took the initiative and pushed his way into the hoard of people, asking politely for people to move aside. Both girls watched as his figure, save his head and shoulders, disappeared in the crowd. Rose let out a huff and turned to Winry behind her.

"I guess we got no choice but to wiggle our way through the ocean of people." With a sense of determination, she plunged herself into the crowd and disappeared amongst it.

But Winry was still a little hesitant about being in the middle of such a large crowd.

'_I gotta really bad feeling about this.'_ She shook her head at that thought. _'Or maybe, that's just the nerves talking. And besides, what could possibly happen in broad daylight and amongst all these people?'_

She let the excited yelling of the people cloud her mind, preventing her from going back like a coward. She balled her hands beside her, a firm look replacing the worry from moments before.

'_I'm just being paranoid. I'll be fine. I will.'_ After that last thought, she walked through the crowd and squeezed herself past adults and children. She couldn't see Rose or Al.

And her anxiety returned.

'_No, no, no. I'm not about to get scared over something small like not being able to see them.'_ She pushed through two large men and a teenage girl. _'They're probably waiting for me on the other side. Yeah, that's what it is. Nothing to freak out over.'_

"Excuse me, sir. Sorry ma'am. Excuse me. Excuse me." she kept repeating to everyone she squeezed through. Some people gave her nasty looks, but she retorted with her own scowl when that happened.

'_How big is this crowd? It sure didn't look too big before.'_ She felt her heart beating rapidly, a mild case of claustrophobia wracking her senses. A sweat broke out at her temple as she desperately scanned the area for any sign of her friends.

'_I hope they're not too far.'_ she thought with worry. It seemed like the path of people would never end. Every minute that past made her more tense. She felt the familiar sting in her eyes, threatening to give way to her emotions.

Before she knew it, even her breathing was becoming erratic as she hurried her pace to reach the end. Her eyes flickered to all directions.

But she still couldn't see them.

"Al! Rose!" she called out at the top of her lungs. She didn't receive any kind of reply. "Al! Rose!" The cheering got too loud, muffling her calls in the process. She tried again, louder this time, as she raced through the pact.

Same cheering. Same absence of her friends.

"Please move!" She wildly ran through the people, going into hysterics. Flashes of that night in Lior and the man's chilling voice came back to her.

It seemed like more people came and filled the empty spaces that were what used to be the end of the cowd. She was becoming more and more uneasy about being in the middle of all these people. She caught a glimpse of something metallic up ahead (presumably Al) and hurried her steps to get to it.

But that was when she felt a cold wash over her right arm as she felt fingers wrap themselves around it.

"Found you." a chilling voice said near her ear, dark humor lacing those words.

The same voice from before.

She whipped her body around, eyes going wide from the scare. But he wasn't there. Nor was his hand holding her arm back.

'_I gotta get out of here!'_ she thought in hysterics. She backspaced, clutching a hand to her heart and hyperventilating uncontrollably. She swiftly turned around and began running as best she could. She could here his snickering all around her, engulfing her very being in the deathly voice.

It kept mocking her everywhere she ran to, sounding closer the farther she got. It fueled her need to escape.

"Al! Rose!" a single tear ran down her cheeks. But she didn't notice it. "Please! Answer me!"

A hand roughly pushed her forward, hurling her body forward. It happened so fast that she didn't see the pole holding up the tent in front of her. Her head gave a sickening crack as it collided with the metal rod and her body collapsed onto the concrete pavement. A massive pain took over and she saw the world blurring around her.

People moved to the side when they saw Winry fall to the ground, some shrieking at the sight of blood pooling from under her head.

"Oh my god!"

"Someone call for help!"

"Hurry!"

"Give her some room!"

Winry felt her mind slipping into the abyss of darkness as she laid there. She tried calling for Al and Rose again, but couldn't find her voice.

"Winry!"

She vaguely heard Al yelling her name and a blob of pink and brown following behind the grey figure.

They came to a halt and kneeled before her, fear evident in their voices as they pleaded with her to stay awake. She barely made out a pair of violet eyes from behind them, narrowed and dancing with amusement. Soon, they disappeared in the crowd and from her sight.

"Winry, hold on! Help is on the way!" Rose's voice cried out.

"Stay awake!" Al, too, cried out.

She felt her eyelids grow heavy with sleep and her body numbing slowly. She closed her eyes and fell into the darkness.

The man's snickering rang like echoes in her mind.

And then, silence. Complete and utter silence.

* * *

**A/N:** So, what did you guys think? Like it? Love it? Not to thrilled with it?

While you write out those reviews, I'm going to get back to my homework and catch up on the lost time I used to write this out. I feel so lazy….(groan).

Anyways, peace out everyone!


	11. The Drift Of Time

**A/N: **OMG! I'm soo excited after reading the new gaiden of Fullmetal Alchemist that came out last month! And it's about Ed, Winry and Al! That means…more of our fav golden trio! Yay! But we EdWin fans didn't get to see them having a family. Boo. Oh, well. But who cares? We still got more FMA goodness! Eeeeeek!

…Ok. Now that I'm done with my excited ranting (and who wouldn't rant on end over this piece of news?), I would like to say that my leg is doing better. It still aches, I won't lie. But all the support from my family and you guys is enough to get me through the pain. So a big round of applause goes out to each and every single one of you. Thank you all! \(^0^)/

This chapter is for you guys. So enjoy and let me know what you think about it.

"Regular dialogue"

'_Mental thought'_

"_Dream talk"_

_

* * *

_

**Chapter 11: The Drift Of Time**

"_Thanks again, Nelly."_

"_No problem. It's the least I can do after you helped me fix my tractor." Nelly handed a basket of eggs to Winry, flashing her a friendly smile. "And you tell Pinako that Nelly says 'hi'."_

_She gave her a light pat to the arm, erupting in small laughter. "Will do."_

"_Well. Take care, Winry."_

"_You too, Nelly." Winry gave her a small wave as she proceeded to shut the door._

_After bidding the teen goodbye, Winry walked down the front steps of her home and up the pathway leading to her own. Her ponytail bounced in the wind as she hummed a tune to herself, the basket swishing back and forth slightly in her hands. The weather was sunny and she could hear children laughing it up in the distance as sounds of drumming and stomping feet filled the void of silence. She was feeling very content walking down the pathway and basking in the sun's rays, enjoying it here instead of the heat wave in Rush Valley._

_She had decided to take a break from working in Garfield's shop to visit her grandmother. The older woman had her birthday coming up in a couple of days and Winry felt it appropriate that she spend it with her, instead of calling her from another place and wishing her well. She didn't want Pinako to spend it at home with Den as her only company. So she booked the earliest train to Risembool and boarded it with excitement and longing for her hometown in the outskirts. _

'_I wonder what kind of pie I should make her? She's already had apple and pecan. Hmm…should I make her a peach pie instead? Huh. Maybe.' _

_She saw Thomas tending to his cow over the hill and waved to him. The brunette waved back and went into the shed to get something. The cow mooed merrily as it ate its feed from the basin. It made the blonde giggle from the sight of it. She continued her trek until she saw the familiar yellow house up ahead. She quickened her pace, at the same time being weary of the eggs in her basket._

'_I don't want to break the eggs before I've even made something out of it. Grandma would kill me for sure if anything happened to them.' she thought with humor._

_But as she neared the residence, something seemed off and she slowed down to small steps. For whatever reason, a chill ran down her spine and a gnawing feeling crept into her heart._

'_Something's not right. I can feel it.'_

_Winry walked towards the front door, which was slightly ajar, in a cautious manner, basket tightly gripped in both hands. She gave the door a knock. It creaked loudly, almost teasing her anxious emotions, as it swung slowly till it stopped at a couple of inches. She just stood there, paralyzed to the core in worry. She didn't know what to think._

'_Grandma never leaves the door unlocked.' she thought with a startling realization._

_She lifted a shaky hand to the door and pushed it back slowly. The lights inside were off and a strong odor immediately hit her senses. She didn't want to assume the worse when the smell reminded her of a meat shop, except that it smelled like it was spoiled. She swallowed down the lump in her throat, preparing herself for what she'd uncover inside._

_The light from outside started to illuminate parts of the floor and the first thing she saw was a knocked over can of oil. A single bolt lied not too far from the can._

_Her heart was pounding away in anticipation and fear, the thumping sounding loud in her ears. She wasn't sure if what she'd see was a messy area…or something else less pleasing. A cold sweat gathered at the roots of her hair and a single drop slid down the side of her face. She pushed it with bated breath, her blue eyes shaking from the numerous thoughts passing through her mind._

_And when she opened it fully, she felt her heart stop beating all at once._

'_N-No…it…it can't be…'_

_It felt like time was moving in slow motion. The children's laughter faded in the background, the temperature felt like it dropped drastically and her once happy mood shattered. But the wind seemed to pick up in speed, causing goose bumps on her arms._

_There, in the middle of the floor, was her grandmother's mangled body. A large pool of blood gathered under her. And streaks of it were splattered all over the walls, furniture knocked over and many of their things broken to pieces. _

_But that wasn't the only thing that scared her._

_On the wall behind Pinako's dead body were the words "You're Next", written in big letters. And in her blood._

"_Oh…god no. N-No."_

_She felt her legs give out on her and her vision getting blurry by the second. She was too far-gone in the darkness to notice her head banging against the doorframe and her body collapsing in a heap on the front step. And that was how a neighbor found her hours later._

_The scenery suddenly faded away, revealing an expanse of white and another Winry, dressed in her white night gown, standing in the middle of it. A look of remorse crossed her features as she stood there and watched the memory disappear._

"_It's a very depressing memory, isn't it?"_

_Winry turned around to face a replica of herself as a child. "…Yes." She bowed her head, hoping to hide her teary eyes with her bangs. Both hands gripped on either side of her nightgown till her knuckles turned white. "It's painful to see the death of your loved one all over again. Almost like getting a slap to the face."_

"_Must have been really hard to see, then?"_

_Winry lifted her head slightly to look at the child before her. The pain was still etched onto her face as she spoke. "Where am I, anyways? Is this all some kind of sick dream?"_

"_Kind of. Or a better term would be 'personal form of imprisonment'." She said grimly. A raw pain, much like her own, was reflected in the little girl's eyes. She wondered if that was how she looked when she got word of her parent's death._

"_And what do you mean by that?"_

_The little girl shook her head and offered the teen a bitter smile. "I can't say." The girl began to walk past the troubled teen without another word._

"_Where are you going?" Winry asked her._

_The girl stopped in her tracks and looked up to the ceiling of the white space, a moment of silence between them. "It'll be best explained if you follow." And with that, she resumed her walk towards an unknown destination. Winry didn't see any need to protest and decided it best to follow like she instructed._

_In a matter of seconds, their forms disappeared amongst the white space._

_

* * *

_

"…I see. And all that you've told me right now is true?"

"I'm positive of it. But that doesn't mean there isn't room for error. That's why I came to ask for your help."

"Well. You've come to the right place, Edward."

Ed had just got done with telling Izumi about Pinako's death and the homunculi that were after her. But he was very discreet about letting information pertaining to a certain incident with the blonde slip out during conversation. He still had to smooth it out with the girl herself. And if he was going to get assistance from his teacher, he didn't need the older woman questioning Winry's loyalty so early in the game.

The last thing he needed was to make an enemy out of her, especially when her life is in danger at the moment.

"Does anyone outside of your group know that you're here?" Izumi asked.

"Nope. Not even Mustang and his crew know of our whereabouts."

"And does he know about Winry's recent predicament?"

"He does. In fact, he was the one that told me and Al about all of this mess."

Izumi took a sip of her lemonade, running through all the information in her head again. She set the cup back down and looked to him, just as everyone there has been doing. "Where are you guys staying as of now?"

"Some hotel on Maple and Silver. About thirty minutes away from here."

"Why so far?"

Ed snorted.

"I didn't have a choice in which hotel we'd be staying at. It was more like Winry knocking me unconscious with her wrench and choosing the hotel herself as she dragged me all the way there." he finished with an angry thought in mind. He didn't sound too pleased as he recalled what his brother told him after he regained consciousness, nursing a rather large lump on his head that day.

A stern look morphed onto the woman's face, her arms crossed in the same manner whenever she was disappointed. "And what exactly did you say or do to Winry that made her react the way she did? Hmm?" She was practically staring him down from the other side of the table.

Ed, on his part, was feeling very nervous from the look he was getting. He was instinctively sweating from head to toe, fearing for the worst. Because if there was one thing Izumi didn't tolerate, it was mistreatment towards women. While she taught the boys how to fight and use alchemy, she was also instructing them on the proper manners to have with woman and girls alike.

But to hear that he angered Winry, whom she vaguely remembered but respected all the same, she was about ready to pound the lesson onto him this time…with much force if needed.

"Well, Edward? You still haven't answered my question. Now answer."

He clenched both hands on his thighs and tried to get a handle on his emotions as everyone was staring at him, expecting an answer any moment. Izumi looked murderous, Sig looked more deadlier if that was possible, and Mason was just plain curious.

But all the staring was getting to him. And he definitely didn't want to explain to them why Winry was pissed with him.

'_Damn that Al! This is all his fault! If he hadn't left me alone on that damn train with her, none of that would have happened. And I most certainly wouldn't have had to explain it to Teacher of all people."_

"Edward?" she sounded out with malice. She pushed her chair back and prepared herself for, if by the off chance, he decided to run off.

And that's exactly what Ed was planning on doing. He saw his golden opportunity in the form of a back door located to his left. He discreetly eyed it from the corner of his eye, purposely moving his bangs to cover his face a little so that Izumi didn't notice. It was practically staring him in the face! All he had to do was run a couple of feet and jump over the fence without any complications (not to mention, avoid his teacher's alchemy that she was sure to use).

'_Now if I can only distract her for a split second…'_

And just as he firmly pressed the heels of his shoes on the ground to make his escape, a butter knife sliced through the air, nearly nipping his cheek, and planted itself on the wall behind him. He slowly turned his head back and looked back to Izumi, fear very much visible on his face.

"Uh…hahah…ha." Mason felt the awkwardness kick in and immediately rose from his chair. "I think now is about time that I checked on those ribs. Yup. Well…uh, see ya!" He tore out of the kitchen quicker than a person could say, "run". Sig calmly got up and walked to the butchering kitchen where Mason was at, giving Ed a small look of sympathy through his stoic expression.

Now he knew he was dead.

"Edward." He twitched from the voice sitting across from him. Sweat came down like a waterfall on his paling face and his hands shook against the leather fabric of his pants. He wanted nothing more than to get out of there. But just as his teacher proved moments before, escape was futile and would cost him dearly if he'd done so.

"What. Did. You. Do?" He could see the veins protruding from her temple as she cracked the knuckles on each of her hands, a menacing look on her features.

"Um…w-well you see…"

"Uh huh?"

"I, uh…I may have accidently p-poured water on her face while she was sleeping?"

A hand came crashing down on the table, splitting sounds coming right after. "YOU WHAT?"

Ed swiftly rose from his seat and was backing away from the crazed woman. "B-but in my defense, I was trying to get her up before the train left. And stupid Al was messing with my head…"

"YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR YOUR DISRESPECT!"

Next thing you hear is glass breaking on the floor and Ed's shrieks from inside the house. A window shattered as Sig walked outside to do some grocery shopping, tucking his wallet in his pocket and going over a checklist in his hand.

"Waaa!"

"Get back here, you mongrel!"

"I can expla- put the knife down! Waaaa!"

"How dare you do that to a woman! Have I not taught you any better!"

"I'm sorry!"

More stuff was heard crashing against walls and the wailing went on. Another window broke and out Ed came through, holding his head where a lump formed at the top. He didn't give it another thought as he dashed up the road to the hotel. Izumi poked her head out of the window the alchemist jumped through, looking more than peeved. But it went unnoticed by the blonde up ahead.

He was too busy running for his life. He bumped into several people and just about ran over an elderly couple on his pathway.

And after seventeen minutes of tearing through the streets (he was determined to get away from the house wife as far as possible), Ed saw the hotel and slowed his pace to lean his exhausted body against the side of the building, trying to catch his breath.

"(Huff)…Damn…what a workout. I guess…(huff)…I don't have to worry…about (huff) sparring with Al today."

He gave it another ten more minutes before he lifted himself from the wall and walked through the glass entrance doors. He ran a hand through his hair, wincing when he felt the developing lump. _'Good thing Teacher taught us how to be flexible. An inch more and that pan was sure to hit my face. And with all the wrenches I received to the head, that pan didn't deal much damage to the left side of my cranium.' _he thought with little relief.

He ascended the stairs and walked down the hall till he reached his and Al's room. He pulled out the key to their room and twisted the lock open with ease. But when he opened the door, he didn't see the large suit of armor.

"Al? Hey Al. You in here?"

He didn't get a reply back. So he walked out of their room and went towards the girls' room. It was at the end of the hall, but still close by. So it didn't take him very long to reach it, giving the door a couple knocks.

"Hey Winry. Rose. It's me, Ed. Any of you in here?" But the same lack of response was all he got.

'_Hope they're still not finding ways to drive me broke.'_ he thought with irritation. He stuffed both hands in his pocket and descended the stairs. When he got to the bottom floor, he walked over to the front desk and rang the bell for some assistance.

A lengthy man with a moustache and blue dress shirt walked behind the counter and placed a notebook down beside him. "How may I help you, sir?"

"Yeah. I was wondering if you'd seen my friends around here? It's two girls with a man in armor."

"And would you happen to be Edward Elric?"

"Yes. That would be me. Why do you ask?"

The clerk was looking through his notebook as he spoke. "I just got a call from your brother. He told me to give you a message if you happened to come back." He handed Ed a note with a message scribbled on it. Ed gave his thanks and walked a little ways from there to read the message.

Ed,

Rose and I are at the hospital. Winry got hurt badly. So please meet us there as soon as you get this message.

He felt his breath hitch and his eyes begin to widen.

'_Winry…in the hospital?"_ He crumpled the note in his hand and slammed the doors open as he ran out of the hotel.

* * *

"_Are we even getting close? We've been walking for a while now and all I've seen so far is nothing."_

'…_.'_

"_Not in the mood for talking?"_

"..._We'll get there eventually." she replied calmly._

"_Yeah. But we've been 'getting there' for a while now. When the heck is this dream supposed to end, anyways?"_

_The girl stopped walking and turned to the teen who was rubbing a sore spot on her leg as they went. Winry saw that she stopped and looked at her questionably. "What's the matter? Why did we stop?"_

_The girl peered up at Winry, her brows narrowing as though in disbelief. Winry didn't know how to react at that, considering the girl was a mini version of herself. Heck, she wasn't sure what was going through her head to begin with. And this was her, for crying out loud!_

_The girl took Winry's hand as her face suddenly became serious. "You…don't remember this place?"_

_Winry was confused by the question. "This is a dream. How can I remember a place that's a figment of my imagination?"_

_Winry felt the girl's tiny fingers grip her own and a thick tension fill the space between them (which is weird because this was just a dream. Right?). _

"_This isn't a dream, nor is it a figment of your imagination. This is reality, Winry." _

She cocked an eyebrow at the statement. "_No it's not." She said, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "There's no way this is real. I mean, there CAN'T be two of me if I'm an only child. And this whole white space place? It's fake, just like everything else here."_

"_Then why did you try to save me the first time we met?" the little girl countered back._

That caught the blonde off guard as she tried to formulate a decent answer. "Oh. _Um…well, because, uh, because-."_

"_You can't answer because you know this is real."_

"_It's not real!" she yelled out, throwing her unoccupied arm down in exasperation. "I'm just having a dream. That's it. And any moment now, I'm going to wake from this like nothing."_

"_And you're so sure of this?"_

_Winry ripped her hand from the girl, looking flabbergasted. "Of course! There's no other logical reason than that."_

"_You're lying to yourself."_

"_I'm not ly-…look. I'm not going to argue over dreaming and reality with myself. It's ridiculous."_

"…_You really don't remember anything?" she asked again._

"_No. That's what I was trying to tell you. You can't remember something that didn't exist in your memories to begin with."_

"_And what about buried memories? What of those?"_

She rubbed her fingers against her temple, feeling a headache coming on. "_Even if they're memories hidden in the deepest recesses of your mind, you'd still have a sense of familiarity whenever you came across it. The mind may not remember, but the body does."_

"…_I guess that's true." Winry felt a pang of guilt when she looked into the girl's downcast eyes. But she had no idea where that came from. "I wish I could forget things like you do. Time…wouldn't be so sufferable if that was the case. You should consider yourself lucky." She twirled on the heel of her right leg (both weren't wearing any shoes. Yet walking wasn't too much of an issue, regardless) and continued her travel towards the unknown. _

_Winry was hesitant to follow for whatever reason. It was as though her body was keeping itself from reaching the distance. But why?_

'_Why am I so nervous to see what's on the other side?'_

_Winry decided to walk back, regardless if she was separated from the little girl. She just didn't want to go where she was heading to._

_Funny thing is, she never heard the girl's footsteps at any point during her quest back._

_It was as though she vanished suddenly._

_

* * *

_

Rose was sitting on a chair, holding her hands together on her lap, outside in the hall where Winry was last seen. She tried occupying her mind on anything else, other than Winry's critical condition. But it wasn't helping much. Her hands hadn't stopped shaking since Winry was admitted, her and Al riding in a cab that drove behind the ambulance truck.

'_Why the heck didn't I walk beside her? Ugh! I should have known better than to leave her behind when the people kept piling on.'_

A doctor came out of a room and was walking towards her. Her head whipped up in anticipation. But he merely walked past her and to a couple off to the far end. She felt her heart drop and returned her head on her hands. "Urg." She covered her face with both hands, inhaling deeply and releasing. But the simple act didn't do her anything for her depression.

Rose pressed the balls of both her hands onto her eyes, attempting to keep her eyes from watering. She'd already done enough crying in the ambulance as she looked over the many machines they hooked up on the girl.

"Want some coffee?"

Her body twitched and she slowly pulled her face from her hands, looking up the Al. She hadn't even heard him walk back.

"I don't know if it tastes any good. But it'll help to calm your nerves." he told her, concern evident in his voice.

She smiled a little and brought a hand up to take the beverage from the armor's hand. She gratefully brought it to her lips and sipped some of the bitter substance.

It wasn't good, that was for sure. But she didn't mind much as she took a few more sips.

"Thanks, Al." Her amethyst eyes flickered to a pair of swinging doors marked "Emergency Care" and brought her head down, using her hair to conceal her glistening eyes.

"You know…I never thought I'd be so broken over a girl I've barely met. And to be honest, I was kind of jealous of her in the beginning." Al saw her gripping the cup in her hand, but didn't say anything about it. Rose took his silence as permission to continue.

"When you guys first arrived in Lior, I was ecstatic to see Ed again. I don't know why. But something about him caught my eye and made me feel more confident about myself." She took a second to look at her reflection in the coffee, contemplating her next words. "It was because of what he said to me that I was able to get back on my feet and find real happiness for myself. Not the false optimism Cornello fed everyone."

"So when I saw Ed again, I couldn't have been more happier. I guess you can say I developed a small crush on him. But then…I saw Winry talking so comfortably with him and I suddenly felt bad. I thought to myself, 'Is this Ed's girlfriend?' But when she was introduced as our guys' friend, I felt a little relieved. Then the feelings of jealousy resurfaced when I saw just how close the two were. It…it was hard to watch. But she was such a nice girl that I didn't have it in my heart to be mean with her. So I continued on like their interaction didn't bother me."

"Rose…"

Rose looked up to him, no longer hiding the raw pain behind her eyes. "And when you were teasing them about their feelings, I was confused and slightly hurt. A part of me didn't want to register the meaning behind your words. But another part was desperate to find out the truth. And I'll admit, it hurt to finally hear the real story behind them. When you said they had feelings for one another, I felt like I lost something close to me."

"I'm sorry for telling you, Rose. Really."

She shook her head to the side, eyes closed and a smile gracing her features. "No. You shouldn't be sorry. In fact, I'm glad that you told me the truth." She opened her eyes again to give him a meaningful look. "Both her and Ed are right for each other. And I'm happy for them. So…I've leaned to let go and move on. That's what you brothers taught me after all."

"That's right." Al said, a sincere happiness in his voice also.

"Winry is like a really good friend to me. So I don't mind at all that she stole Ed's heart. I just…I-I don't' know." She was starting to tear up at the end and gripped the coffee more tighter in her hand.

Al sat next to the distressed girl and placed a hand on her own that was on her lap. "Everything's going to be ok."

"How do you know for sure?" Her face scrunched up in pain for her friend. "You saw how bad it was! What if…what if she never wakes up?" she asked in hysterics.

He looked down to his feet, his own worry getting to him. He heard Rose sniffling beside him, most likely trying to stop herself from crying again.

Winry's smiling face flashed in his mind briefly and another of her lying on the ground, bleeding from the back of her head. He'd never seen her get so pale before (if you didn't count the time when Al walked into the Rockbell residence holding his deathly wounded brother, pleading them for help to stop Ed's bleeding from places where his limbs should have been). It was a disturbing scene that was burned into his memories, a memory that he was sure would haunt him even after his body was restored.

"She will wake up. And she will get through this." he said in all seriousness.

Rose paused her sobbing to look up at the teen, tear-laden eyes desperately searching through his own for an answer…anything that would put her mind at ease.

"She'll get through this…because she's Winry Rockbell. A force to be reckoned with."

But he was determined to stay on the positive. Many times he's given in to his emotions. And many times he's wallowed in self guilt and thought himself the blame for situations getting out of control (Nina's death, Ling turning into a homunculus, Ran Fan sacrificing her arm and, now, dragging Winry into their lives and putting her in danger. Not to mention, Pinako being killed by those immortal beings that intended to do more harm than good because of their search to be whole again).

But he knew he had to be strong. This time, he had to put his whole faith in believing that Winry would be alright.

He had to. For Rose, for himself…and for Ed, who was probably going out of his mind with worry.

* * *

"How's she looking, doctor?" asked a nurse that walked into the bleach white room, clipboard in hand and pen on the other.

The doctor was looking through his own clipboard of documents when his attention was brought to the nurse. He set it down on a nearby table and turned to the girl in front of the door. "We finally got her body to calm down from the initial shock. She's suffered a large amount of blood and has deep bruising on her head and several other parts along her upper body. But her heart beat is regulating normally."

"Sounds good." she said with relief.

"But my only concern pertains to her consciousness."

"How so?"

"What I'm saying is that her brain waves are particularly low on the charts."

"Well, she did receive a wound to the head."

"That may be true. But when you take into account that her brain waves fluctuate low on the grid, and coupled with the fact that she hit her head hard on a metal pole, one can see that she isn't out of the water yet."

He walked over to a bed where Winry was resting, bandages all around her head, cheeks and neck. To any normal person, she appeared to be sleeping peacefully. But that was hardly the case to the doctor who was looking over her brain wave data.

"I'm afraid she may be suffering a coma."

* * *

_A darkness descended and wrapped itself around the place like vines on a wall. It looked menacing. _

"_Where am I?"_

_The white space drastically changed in color, blacks and grays tainting everywhere and it was starting to get really cold._

"_Hello? Little Winry. Are you here?" She heard her voice echo around the place. But no word from the girl._

"_What's going on?" she muttered to herself, shuddering from the wind that blew past her. An inexplicable fear struck her nerves as she continued to roam the place._

_

* * *

_

Ed was running with all his might, pushing past people and taking sharp turns around buildings.

The hospital was far and he didn't think about asking for a ride. But his mind was solely focused on getting to the hospital.

"You better be ok. You better damn be ok." he said to himself as he raced down the road to get to her.

He saw an ambulance speed down the street, its lights blaring rapidly and the shrill noise acting up on the alchemist's nerves and his body to jerk slightly. An image of a profusely bleeding blonde rushed through his mind and he felt his body wince. The truck disappeared around a corner and he sped up to go around that same corner also. Only one thought ran through his mind the whole way there:

'_I'm coming Winry. So don't you dare be dying on me!'_

_

* * *

_

**A/N:** That was quite the drama, wouldn't you say?

Can you believe the hardest part about writing this chapter was coming up with a title for it? I must be losing my touch if can't even come up with a title for it. But as for the story itself, I was suddenly overcome with inspiration while studying for my chemistry exam. I don't even know how that's supposed to make sense. But for whatever reason it was, chemistry was able to boost my thinking juices and allow my mind to breeze through the writing. Again, don't know how that happened. Oh, well. Anyways, I hope you guys liked this. And please, please, PLEASE leave me a review when you're done reading. I've noticed that a lot of you just fav or subscribe. But you don't leave me a comment. So out of the goodness in your heart, write me a comment to tell me how I did. It doesn't have to be this ridiculously long one or anything fancy in the least. Just a couple of words is sufficient enough.

So while you guys do that, I'm going to get back to my homework. Unfortunately, I have to study for a math quiz. Aaah~ The joys of slaving away at numbers and complicated equations.


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